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BOOK of the WESTERN SUBURBS 




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VIEW ON DES PLAINES RIVER 
Riverside. Ill, 



BOOK oMiiMVl-:STHRN SUBURBS 



HOMES, GARDENS, LANDSCAPES 

HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS 

PAST AND PRESENT 



>^ 



«)• MARIAN A. WHITE 
Author and Lecturer 




NIAGARA PARK 
Lyons. 111. 



CHICAGO 
J. HARRISON WHITE 



Price Two Dollars 



Copyrieht. I'll 2. hy I. Harrison White 






TO THE 

PATRONS AND SUBSCRIBERS 

WHO HAVE MADE 
ITS PRODUCTION POSSIBLE 

THIS BOOK 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY 
THE PUBLISHER 



The Franklin Co. 
engravers and printers 

CHICAGO 



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FOREWORD 

IN the preparation of the present work the author has endeavored 
to faithfully portray the evolution of a portion of the Grand 
Prairie of Illinois into the delightful suburban sites found today. 
In order that the traditional and legendary associations might be 
more intelligently comprehended, it was thought advisable to com- 
mence with that particidar portion of the prairie over which the 
Jesuit Fathers blazed the way. From the letters and journals of 
the latter, as well as from other authoritative sources, have been 
culled facts, vital to the telling of the stor>' of the yesterday and 
today, of the highways and byways past and present associated with 
the traditions of the Western Suburbs. The struggles and hardships 
overcome b}^ the pioneers, the undaunted courage of both men and 
women in the early days of settlement, when "cities were planned in 
their comeliness for a future heritage," should be familiar to the youth 
of succeeding generations. Local traditions and legends should be 
fostered, for only by this method can we hope to attain to that which 
is an incentive to love of country and pride in, and reverence for its 
institutions. This is the spirit exemplified by those whose homes 
appear in the following pages ; they were approached with intelligence 
and they responded in like manner. So the book of the "Western 
Suburbs" is illustrative of a broad, comprehensive principle on the 
part of author, publisher and patrons. 



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6928 Sheridan Road 
Chicago, 111. 




Page six 




THE WATER WORKS 
RivLTside, 111. 



Highways and Byways 
Past and Present 



THE HISTORIC HIGHWAY 
"RIVIERE DU PORTAGE" 



"In what way can the future be forecast, except by studying the past? 
And where shall we study the past except in history? — In all things historical, 
then, the truth is the one great thing." 



THE inland waterways — from the Great Lakes to the less im- 
portant stretches of water and reaches of swamp, from the 
broadly flowing rivers to the smallest creeks — figure significantly 
in the early discovery and settlement of the West, of which the Prairie 
State, the fair and fruitful Illinois, forms a representative part. 

By following the waterways, designated by friendly Indians, the 
good Pere Marquette and his staunch and helpful companion, Joliet, 
made their way from the Mississippi into the Illinois, from thence to 
the Des Plaines, and, by way of the "portage" and the Chicago River to 
Lake Michigan. 



Page seven 




Page eight 



H I G H VV A V S AND I) V W A V S — P A S T AND PRESENT 



The word "porlaKc" is frequently met with in the journals and letters 
of the early explorers. It is derived from the French "porte," meaning 
"to carry," and dcsij^nates a neck of land lying between two navigable 
waters, over which tract, canoes and effects must be carried bodily, in 
order to gain the desired water-transportation beyond. Most of these 
byways had been trailed b)- the Red Man long before his white brother 
essayed to jjush through the wilderness. But once being known, the)' 
became the familiar highways of the \-o\'ageurs passing to and fro 
between the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. 

The frail canoe of birch-bark played an important part in this 
method of transportation. Light of weight, easily carried o\'er the 
byway of the portage, and as readily set afloat on the highway of waters 
beyond, its choice became a necessity. Fearless and staunch of heart 
were those who elected to set their faces westward — with this only 
means of transjjortation — to bring into being that "New France" 
which was ultimately to resolve itself into a Greater America! 

After the coming of Marquette to the country of the Illini, the 
South Branch of the Chicago River and the Des Plaines, together with 
the inten.'ening portage, assumed importance as a highway to the 
Illinois River; and the gentle "Black Robe" who won the confidence 
and esteem of the Indians, wrote of the Chicago River, as the "Riviere 
du Portage," describing its vicinity as "a broad waste of grass and 
prairie flowers, channeled by two lazy streams that meet in opposite 
directions, and united, flow into, or rather form connection wth the 
Lac des Illinese" (Lake Michigan). 

Once again Marquette is found at this particular portage, and, owdng 
to unfavorable weather, as well as to his weakened physical condition, 
both of which circumstances combined to arrest his immediate journey- 
ing to the village of the Illini, posterity is brought into more intimate 
knowledge of the historic highway and its general environment. 

Arriving at the mouth of the Chicago River, it was with difficulty 
they urged their frail canoes through the already congealing waters. 
Westward stretched the boundless prairie, now enshrouded in winter's 
tender covering, but of chill and unfriendly aspect to the already 
storm-racked missionary and his two faithful engages, Pierre and 
Jacques — his only white companions. Under difficulty they make 
their way along the "Riviere du Portage," until they are a little less 
than five miles from the Lake. Here, on a gentle undulation of the 
north bank, they discover a cabin. Investigation proved it to be 
unoccupied. How did it happen there? This little shelter in the 
midst of the desolate prairie? Tradition claims that it was erected by 
two hunters for the purpose of storing furs until opportunity for their 
further distribution by way of the Portage. Marquette's heart must 
have lifted in praise and thankfulness, for rude of aspect as it appeared, 
it suggested a haven of comfort where he might relax during this most 
painfid moment of his sufferings. 

Not a word of complaint, however, either against pain or hardship 
has this martyr to the cause left us. We can, if we will, however, read 
between the incidents he records with such cheery frankness, that the 
gaunt spectre of Famine, and its grim companion, Death, hovered at 
moments in close proximity. Yet the faithful Pierre and Jacques 



Page nine 



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Page ten 



HIGHWAYS AND B V W A V S — P A S T A N U P R li S E N T 

sought to make him as comfortable as kindh- forethought and choice 
of meagre supphes might suggest. 

"Jacques," WTites Marquette, "brought in a partridge that he had 
killed, every way resembling those of France, except that it had two 
little wings of three or four feathers, a finger in length, near the head, 
with which it covers the two sides of the neck where there arc no 
feathers." "Resembling those of France!" Did a throb of nialadie du 
pays affect the gentle missionary, as he recalled the distinguishing 
traits of the bird of his native land — his sunny France' We shall 
never know. But we would revere his memory not one whit the less 
had he recorded such emotion. 

"Several Illinois Indians," again writes Marquette, "passed the 
cabin wath furs which they were taking down to the Lake. We gave 
them a bufTalo and a deer that Jacques had killed the day before. I 
never saw Indians more greedy for French tobacco than these," and 
one can almost imagine a faint smile creeping over the wan features, 
as he records: "They (the Indians) came and threw beaver skins at 
our feet to get a small piece (French tobacco) but we returned the 
skins, giving them pipes, for we had not yet concluded whether we 
should go on." Two years later, the good Father Allouez passed over 
the "Riviere du Portage," simply mentioning it as the "river that leads 
to the Illinois." 

With La Salle came the Recollets — the "Gray Robes," as the 
Indians designated Hennepin, Ribourde and Membre, the first of 
their Order to travel the Chicago Portage. In writing of this highway, 
La Salle defines it as "an isthmus of land at forty-one degrees fifty 
minutes north latitude at the west of the Lac des Islinois (Lake Mich- 
igan), which is reached by a channel formed by a junction of several 
rivulets and meadow ditches. It is navigable alDout two leagues to the 
edge of the prairie ; a quarter of a league westward there is a little lake, 
divided by a causeway about a league and a half long made by beavers." 

Joutel, who with Tonty, must be accounted one of La Salle's faith- 
ful followers, lay in the cabin formerly occupied by Marquette. He 
was sufTering from an injured foot. "We had nothing," he writes, 
"but our meal of Indian wheat to feed on; yet we discovered a kind 
of manna, which was a great help to us. It was a sort of tree resembling 
a maple, in which we made incisions, whence flowed a sweet liquor, 
and in this we boiled our Indian wheat, which made it delicious, sweet, 
and of agreeable relish. This sweet liquor when boiled up and evaporated, 
turns into a kind of sugar, somewhat brownish but very good." So, 
in 1688, maple syrup and maple sugar tickled the palate of the way- 
farers on the banks of the Chicago Portage! 

Baron de Lahontan, French soldier and traveler, was in this vicinity 
in the same year and about the same time as Joutel and Tonty. He 
writes of it being a "very busy season with the conreurs du bois, thirty 
of whom are doing some remarkable trading with the Indians." This 
is a side-light upon the early commercial aspects of the Chicago- 
Desplaines Portage. 

St. Cosme, a Canadian priest, on his way to the Mississippi, speaks 
particularly of that part of the portage, designated "Mud Lake." 
The latter was of swamp origin, but forming an important link with 



Page eleven 



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HOME OF MR. WALTER HELLYER 
Riverside, 111. 



the Des Plaines. Quite frequently, the voyageurs, waist deep in 
thick, black mud, would push their loaded canoes through this small 
lake. Their bodies were exposed to the attacks of "suckers" or leeches 
that infested the marsh, while face and hands became the points of 
attack by mosquitoes. Imagine the torment and suffering of such a 
combination! Yet it was soon forgotten. The voyageur was of the 
most buoyant temperament, even while performing the most laborious 
tasks. Laughter and song accompanied all their efforts. 

With St. Cosme were Montigny, Davion and Tonty — the latter 
acting as guide. They arrived at the Chicago Portage in October, 
1699. "The little river that is lost in the prairies," writes St. Cosme. 
When the party had accomplished about half the distance of the 
Portage, one of its number was found missing. He was a lad between 
twelve and fourteen, who had been entrusted to their keeping by a 
French officer, who, some eight years later, figured as Governor of 
Louisiana. 

As soon as they realized the lad was missing they retraced their 
route. St. Cosme says "the grass was very high" and that they "dared 
not set it on fire" for fear of further imperilling the boy. So they 
shouted and fired their guns, hoping to attract the attention of the lad 
and induce him to make some effort to respond to their signals. But 
all to no purpose. The weather was growing colder, the waters already 
very low, and to longer remain would involve much extra hardship. 
So it was decided that Montigny, Tonty and Davion continue over the 



Page hvelve 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 




Photo by Bemi 



HOME OF MR. JOHN M. CAMERON 
Riverside, 111. 



portage, while St. Cosme, with four men, turn back in the direction 
already traveled. On their way they met Fathers Pinet and Binneteau 
with two engages, on their way to the Illinois Indians. 

When St. Cosme came down Lake Michigan, to the portage, stress 
of weather drove his party to seek the shore. He made his way inland 
to the "Mission of the Guardian Angel" which Father Pinet had 
established among the Miami Indians, in the neighborhood of what 
is now generally understood to be the "vSkokie" and in close proximity 
to the site of the present Catholic Church in the village of Gross Point. 
St. Cosme seems to have returned to this neighborhood without finding 
trace of the boy. His letter would also intimate that some of "our 
people" were then established at "Chicagou" or "Chicaqw," as he 
spells it at one time, somewhat nearer to the portage than the "Mission 
of the Guardian Angel." 

However, the boy was not found by him, and St. Cosme is somewhat 
vague when he states that he was "obliged to start after giving Brother 
Alexander directions to look for the boy, and take some of the French 
who were at Chicagou to look for him." Whoever the "French" were 
at "Chicagou" one can but surmise. There may have been hunters or 
traders sojourning there for the nonce, and St. Cosme, through "Brother 
Alexander" (another mystery) had engaged their kindly ser\aces on 
behalf of the missing lad. 

It is reported, however, that after a lapse of "thirteen days, the boy, 
utterlv exhausted and out of his head," did find his wav to the faithful 



Page thirteen 



BOO 



O F 



THE 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 




THE BEXD OF THE RIVER 
Riverside. III. 

"Brother Alexander." Of a truth, this episode should go down to 
posterity as the first of the "mysterious disappearances" for which 
Chicago is more or less noted, as well as from the fact that this incident 
certainly embodies the record of Chicago's pioneer disobedient 
youngster, for St. Cosme distinctly states, that "the boy started on alone 
although he had been told to watt." 

The distinguished French traveler and historian, Charlevoix, in 
writing of the "Riviere du Portage," designates it "the little river 
Chicagou," and fears he might not "find water enough to float his 
canoe!" For some long years after the coming of Charlevoix, the 
Chicago Portage fell into disuse. The Indians had become hostile 
in their attitude and this particular highway was deemed anything 
but safe for the white man. 

In 1871, however, the Hutchins Map still gives definite particulars 
of the Chicago Portage, showing its river and branches, together with 
the two lakelets and swamps connecting it with the Des Plaines. A 
map made by Governor Hull, defines the Chicago Portage as it existed 
a century ago. The accompanying text on this map explains that 
the Portage was generally understood to be from the Chicago River 
to the River Des Plaines; that the trading post of Chicago was six 
miles distant from the portage; that the ]jortage itself — the neck of 
land over which everything had to be carried — was seven miles; that 
from the end of the portage to the Des Plaines was three miles, the 
latter being through Mud Lake; and that the aggregate distance 
between Lake Michigan and the Des Plaines, by way of the river and 
the portages, was about twelve miles. 

Gxirdon vS. Hubbard, in his "Autobiography," tells of this highway 
as he saw it in 1818. "The South Branch was then known as the 
Lagoon," writes Mr. Hubbard, "and we camped at a point near the 



Page jourtcfii 



II I C, H W A Y S AND B V W A Y S — P A S T AND PRESENT 

present comincncement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, remaining 
there for one day in prc]:)aration to jjassing boats through Mud Lake 
to the Des Plaines. This lake is connected with the South Branch 
by a "narrow, crooked channel, and only in wet seasons containing 
water enough to float an emijty boat. The mud was very deep. On 
the edge of the lake, tall grass and wild rice grew, often above a man's 
head and so strong and dense it was almost impossible for a man to 
walk through it. Empty boats were pulled up channel and in many 
places where there was no water and a hard clay bottom, the boats 
were placed on short rollers, and in this manner pulled along until 
the lake was reached, where mud was found thick and deep, but only 
at rare intervals, water. Others of the crew transported goods on 
their backs to the river." Thus are the difficulties and hardships 
associated with the Chicago Portage — the only highway then from 
Chicago to the Mississippi — pictured by one who passed over its 
tedious ways, six years after the Fort Dearborn Massacre, and two 
years after the New Fort Dearborn had been established ! 

A United States Survey Map, bearing date, 1822, shows this high- 
way still in use. Where the present Lincoln street meets the South 
Branch, the designation "Portage House," implies that at this time, 
and we know not for how long a ]3eriod before the making of this map, 
there was a road-house or inn for the accommodation of the wayfarer. 
On this -same map, along the designated "marshes" and "little lakes" 
intervening between the Des Plaines, is defined "Portage Road." 
The "Beaver dam" to which La Salle makes reference, was, as one 
may readily conceive, between the two "Httle lakes," shown on this 
map, one of which has become familiar as "Mud Lake," the most 
difficult stretch associated with the old, historic highway, the "Portage 
du Chicago" of the early explorers and those who followed immediately 
after. 




A PARK AT RIVERSIDE, ILL. 



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THE DES PLAINES 
Riverside, 111. 



THE DES PLAINES— "RIVIERE DIVINE' 



"What cordial welcomes greet the guest 
By thy lone rivers of the West." 

("America," William Cullen Bryant) 



THE Des Plaines is one of the most picturesque waterways of the 
prairie country. By the time it reaches Riverside, it has 
meandered almost eighty miles from its source in south-east 
Wisconsin. Curving into banks of low-lying meadow lands, neighbor- 
ing with smaller streams which help to swell its flood, the Des Plaines 
attains its most picturesque development in the \-icinity of Riverside, 
where, doubling on itself among bcautifulh- wooded slopes, like Tenny- 
son's brook, it "winds about and in and out," then makes a "sudden 
sally and sparkles out among the ferns, to bicker down the \-alley." 

While its more northerly portion is associated with tradition and 
legend of Indian occupation, and with that evolutionary period of the 
first white adventurer — hunter or trader — into the real settler — the 
pioneer farmer — it is the southwesterly stretch of the river that 
figures in the early explorations of the Illinois country, for, as we have 
seen in the pre\dous chapter, it was a significant part of that historic 
highway, known as the "Chicago Portage." 

It is generally conceded that Marquette and Joliet were the first 
of the white race to travel the Des Plaines. They were guided to its 
waters bv the friendiv Indians, after that strenuous four months of 



Page twenty-one 



BOOK 



O F 



THE 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 




Photo by Bffiiini 



HOME OF MR. ROBERT LEICESTER JORDAN 
Scottswood Road. Riverside. Ul. 



exploration in birch bark canoes. Joliet was somewhat of a poet, 
since he found in the stream and its environment that which suggested 
the beautiful name. Was he enraptured by its peaceful, meandrous, 
yet purposeful flow toward the more important stream, which, with 
patriotic fervor he had named in honor of his king — "St. Louis" — 
now known as the Illinois? Or, did the glorious hues of the prairie, 
and the reeds and rushes in Autumn garb appeal to the poetic nature, 
and frame the stream with such pronounced picturesqueness as to 
bring forth, from the darkly-bearded lips, the exclamation "Riviere 
Divine!" However, "Riviere Divine," it became, until "Aux Plaines," 
or "Des Plaines," both of which appropriately signify "of the plains," 
became its more familiar designation. 

Reference has been made to Marquette's winter sojourn in a cabin, 
on the north bank of the South Branch of the Chicago river. Here, 
toward the end of March, 1675, after a season of great severity, the ice 
floes formed a barrier across the stream. The thaw continuing, the 
"dam," as Marquette writes, "broke," and there was barely time to 
escape the onward rush of the waters. After a night of suspense, 
Marquette says : "We resolved to embark on our journey." Following 
his description, one may conclude that the flood afforded a continuous 
waterway to the Des Plaines, as they made but "one short portage." 
Continuing down the river, they hailed with appreciation a bit of 
elevated country, where, without fear of being engulfed by the vagrant 



Page twcnty-hvo 



H I t; H \V A \' S AND B V W A V S — P A S T AND PRESENT 



waters, they mijjht rest until the oi)])ortune moment for proceeding 
down the "Riviere Divine," to the Illinois. 

La Salle's men, under Tout}-, passed down the eastern shores and 
crossed the southern extremity of Lake Michij^'an to the Chicaj^o 
Portage. Pushing their way to the Des Plaincs, and making a day's 
journey down the latter, they awaited the coming of their commander. 
It was late December, 1681, the weather severe and the waters freezing 
solid. The resourceful Tonty, while waiting for La Salle, who arrived 
on January 6, constructed rude sleighs by which the party and its 
effects might be more easily transported to the Illinois. Father Membre 
was a member of this party and the good priest left a record of this 
journey. Whoever travelled the Chicago Portage in these early days, 
also made this forty miles down the Des Plaincs, for it was part of the 
connecting link between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. 

The best pen picture of the Des Plaines-Portage route to Chicago, 
is given by Henry R. Schoolcraft. Mr. Schoolcraft was an ethnologist, 
as well as an explorer, and he was one of the most intelligent of Indian 
Commissioners. It was while serving in this capacity in the district 
of the Lakes, that Mr. Schoolcraft in 1822 made an expedition to 
Chicago, which he graphically describes: 

"On crossing the Des Plaines, we found the opposite shore thronged 
with Indians, whose loud and obtrusive salutations caused us to make 
a few minutes halt. From this point of view we scarcely ever were 
out of sight of straggling parties, all proceeding to the same place. 
Most commonly they were mounted on horses, and apparelled in their 
best manner of riding, created a scene as novel as it was interesting. 
Proceeding from all parts of a very extensive circle of country, like 
rays converging to a focus, the nearer we approached the more 
compact and concentrated the body became, and we found our caval- 
cade rapidly augmented, and consequently the dust, confusion and 
noise increased at every bypath which intersected our way. After 
crossing the south fork of the Chicago, and emerging from the forests 
that skirt it, nearly the whole number of those who had preceded us 
appeared along the shores of the Lake, while the refreshing and noble 
appearance of the Lake itself with 'vast and sullen swell' appeared 
beyond." 

Joliet, La Salle, and others with prophetic vision, realized the pos- 
sibility of what has been later suggested, a " Lakes to Gulf Waterway," 
by an artificial channel in the region of the Portage. " It will be easy," 
writes a distinguished Gernian, travelling through this section in 1819, 
"to unite the Illinois with Lake Michigan. By means of this canal, 
inland navigation would be opened from New York to New Orleans, 
a distance of 3,000 English miles." 



,^4c<^-<-t<^ h'^yCUr^ruXytiZ^ 



Marquette's Signature 



Page twenty-three 




I'ligc tivcnty-four 



YESTERDAY AND TODAY 

"A song lo the brain that devises, 

And bends Nature's will into law; 
A song to the brain that suffices 
Its purpose from many to draw" 

Horace Spencer Fiske. 

FOR nearly a century, the Chicago-Des Plaines-Portage basked 
under the protection of the Fleur de Lys, its solitudes responding 
to the language of a country beyond the sea, or to the patois of 
a "New France." Over its intricacies were borne the impatient mur- 
inurings of the Indian now grown suspicious of the white intruder in 
the conflicting interests of two great powers. Indifferent to its future, 
for another twenty years, it slumbered under the ensign of St. George. 
Warring tribes continued to pass over its tedious ways, but seldom, if 
ever, came the pale face. 

On one glorious day in September, 1783, when the willows as aggres- 
sive of aspect as the Indian himself, were tenaciously clinging to their 
bits of faded finery, and when the sugar maples were arra\-ed in a 
splendor befitting the occasion, the tall, slender reeds bordering the 
marshes, ins]iircd by the winds that swept the broad expanse of prairie, 
in musical, rhythmic soimds, piped of "freedom' and of a "starry 
banner." But many, many moons were to wax and wane, and many 
years, each fraught with more or less of strife and conflict and much 
bloodshed, were to intervene, while the Indian still held monopoly of 
the Portage. 

Then the first "winged-canoe" found its way to Chicago. Old 
Fort Dearborn came into existence and perished. The second Fort 
Dearborn was established in the midst of a small colony of traders and 
soldiers. The Portage again became a highway for the pale face. In 
1816 the Indians were induced to part with another slice of their heritage 
for canal purposes. They believed it was to be of "great advantage 
to them." But ere the formal beginnings of the project, made July 4, 
1836, by the turning of the first sod of the prairie, the Indian had been 
forced to vacate the territory and the Illinois and Michigan canal 
became the "today" of the Portage. 

The "partridge" of whose peculiarities Marquette wrote, is the 
"prairie chicken" of today. Its specific name of "cupido" being 
assigned by the naturalists, from the two "little wings on the side of 
its neck" being likened to those of the god of Love. The vicinity of 
Marquette's "winter cabin" is designated today by a large mahogany 
cross bearing the inscription of "Marquette and Joliet." It is at the 
foot of Robey Street and the South Branch, in an environment of 
lumber yards and other important commercial enterprises. It should 
be the centre of a small, well-tended public park and the author hopes 
this site will ultimately become such. 

The rising ground on which Marquette took refuge from the floods, 
is now marked by a pile of boulders and a suitable inscription in the 
vicinity of the village of Summit, this being the highest elevation 
between the two watersheds — one draining toward the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, the other to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Page twenty- five 




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Page thirty-one 




A MODEL KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL 
Brookfield. 111. 



THE GRAND PRAIRIE- 
ITS YESTERDAY AND TODAY 



'The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful. 
For which the speech of England has no name. 
The Prairies." — Wm. Cullen Brvant. 



THE Indian did not bestow on the reaches of billow)' landscape 
over which he loved to roam, the poetic title of prairie. It was 
the French explorers, the missionaries and \-oya.£;eurs who per- 
petuated these sweeping distances in the title of Prairie. The word 
signifies meadow, yet, a meadow unlike anything the}- had ever before 
seen, but it was the only word in their language that seemed applicable 
to these grass-grown plains. And are we not grateful for the eu]3hon- 
ious title? 

"The prairie is the sea of the land," writes Wm. A. Quayle, and 
he is the only American who has made a poetic study in prose of their 
ever varying beauty. "Prairie and sea plant no hedgerows than the 
sky, both billow out into the universe," and we who have known both 
sea and prairie recognize the sentiment involved in this latter quota- 
tion from the same author. Through these imposing meadow-lands 



Page thirty-two 



HIGH \V A Y S AND H V W A V S — P A S T AND PRESENT 




THE BOYS' PARADISE 
Brookfield. III. 



wandered many a vagrant stream, its banks defined by lo\v-l_\-ing shnil) 
and reed growth, by grove or forest; but in whichever direction it 
meandered, each stream ultimately affiliated with more direct and 
important waters, and together sought the sea. 

Illinois has been designated the "Prairie State" and not without 
reason. "The finest country we have seen is from Chicagou to the 
Tamarois, ' ' writes De la Source in the early part of 1 700. " It is nothing 
but prairies and clumps of wood as far as you can sec," he adds with 
an enthusiasm savoring of a later period. Germany became familiar 
with the aspect of the prairies in the early part of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. A distinguished traveler and writer of that nationality journeyed 
on horseback over these wonderful tracts of country in Illinois. "No 
more inviting thing can be imagined by a stranger, than to settle here 
and live more in accordance with nature," writes Herr Ernst, "for the 
plow once into these grassy plains, which arc, for the most part level, 
fields would be splendid with the richest fruits and the most abundant 
harvests. I do not believe any one State in America is so highly 
favored b\- nature in every respect, as the State of Illinois." His 
words were prophetic. 

On July 10, 1832, the steamboat, "Sheldon Thompson," on which 
General Scott had embarked at Bufifalo, arrived at Chicago. Captain 
Walker has left to posterity a graphic description of the prairie as it 
appeared to him. "There was no harbor accessible to any craft draw- 
ing more than two feet of water," he says. "But Httle else was seen 
besides the broad expanse of prairie, with its gentle undulated surface, 
covered with grass and variegated flowers, stretching out far in the 
distance, resembling a great carpet, interwoven with green, pur])le and 
gold; in one direction bounded by the blue horizon with no intervening 
woodland to obstruct the vision. The view, in looking through the 
spyglass from the upper deck of our steamer, while lying in the offing, 
was a most picturesque one. presenting a landscape intersi)ersed with 



I'dHf thirty-three 




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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 




Photo by Snyder 



HOME OF MR. F. C. SCHULTZ 
1 Du Bois Blvd.. Congress Park. 111. 



small groves of underwood, making a picture complete; combining 
the grand and beautiful in nature, far beyond anything I had before 
seen." 

Chicago and its Western Suburbs are particularly involved in the 
evolution of this portion of the country, designated the Grand Prairie of 
Illinois, which reaching back many hundred miles to the interior, 
only bordered Lake Michigan itself, in the fonn of weird sandhills for 
nearly four miles south of the mouth of the Chicago river. This por- 
tion of the Grand Prairie, embracing the Old Portage route, the North 
Branch, the Des Plaines, the Du Page and other streams, is rife with 
tradition, for the yesterday has burgeoned into the fairest today. 
Over this particular portion of the Grand Prairie, explorer and mis- 
sionary urged their way. The chansons of the voyageurs vied with the 
clear, plaintive strain of the meadow-lark and other warblers of the 
prairie. Later came hunter and trader, and they, like those preceding 
them, followed over the trails familiar to the Indian, for red men's 
roads evince considerable ingenuity in avoiding obstacles while follow- 
ing the most direct route in a given direction. 

The early settlers utilized these same byways which crossed and 
criss-crossed the prairie in all directions, and which lay, as Randall 
Parrish aptly says, "like great uncoiled snakes . . . yet ever 
pointing directly, and by the most feasible route, toward the selected 
destination, however far away." Many of these trails became recog- 
nized mail and stage routes as well as general highways, the railroads 



Page thirty-five 




Photo l>y Snyiler 



BUNGALOW OF MR. C- H. BRIXTON 
BrookficW. III. 




HOME OF MR. CONRAD SCHNEIDER 

(His own design) 

Raymond Ave., Congress Park, III. 



Page thirty-six 




Photo by Snyder 



HOME OF MR. EMIL E. PICK 
Brookfield, 111. 




photo l.y Snyder 



H(JMK OF MR. E. H. CRAHAM 
Brookfield. 111. 



Page thirty- seven 



BOOK 



O F 



THE 



WEST 



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U R B S 




Photo by Snyder 



HOME OF MR. JAS. W. BELL 
Congress Park, IH. 



frequently following over, severing in two, or paralleling them. Even 
before the Indian had been entirely banished from the vicinity of the 
Grand Prairie, adventurous settlers sought to establish claims, and, 
turning over the sod — for this is all that was necessary — sowed and 
planted and harvested with the very best results. 

The banks of the streams to the Indian, as well as to his white 
brother, seemed to be the most desirable of all the fullness and rich- 
ness the Grand Prairie had to offer. Consequently, on the banks of 
the forks of the Chicago river, on the Des Plaines, on both forks of the 
Du Page, as well as upon its main branch, and along the winding, 
beautifully wooded portions of Salt Creek, came the settlers, either 
singly or in colonies, but all bent on the one object, the making of 
homes in this land of great possibilities. 

Chicago, then but little more than a trading post, underwent a 
boom from the influx of strangers that came in hooded ox-carts, or by 
way of the lake, with their lares and penates, on their way to make 
a home in the wilderness, or upon the broad bosom of the prairie. 
That was but yesterday. Today, charming villages and hamlets greet 
the eye. The Indian tepee, the hunter's cabin, the pioneer log home 
quickly gave way to dwellings of more substantial aspect. Yesterday, 
the pioneer carried his grain and other farm products to the market 
beyond over planked roads. Today, his descendants have their 
country homes remote from the city, which they reach by means of 



Page thirty-eight 



HIGHWAYS AND B V W A Y S — 1' A S T AND PRESENT 




Photo by Snyder 



HOME OF MR. GEORGE A. LENDRUM 
Congress Park, 111. 



an automobile over tolerably good highways — and the time is not 
far distant when all highways will be made and kept in excellent order 
under organized supervision. Today, the suburbanite may dwell amid 
picturesque and healthful environment, enjoy educational and social 
advantages, remote from the turmoil of the city, yet closely affiliated 
with its interests, by means of electricity and steam. 

While the author of this work has been journeying back and forth 
over the route of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, between 
Chicago and Naper\-ille, visiting and tarrying in the suburban towns 
between these points, the "air-ships" were visible in their trials of skill 
and endurance. Recall the progress that has been made within the 
past fifty years and the possibilities of the air-ship seem almost assured. 
The railroad was opposed. But see how beautifully it has linked 
together these channing home-towns. Take a peep at and into the 
home-stations, and think of the time, only a short yesterday, when 
any little old bo.\ of a shelter was designated a railway station! 
Then congratulate yourself on the fine entrance the railroad has given 
to 3'our home-town. It is the intention of the writer to now introduce 
the reader to the past and the present of a few of these delightful 
suburbs which domicile considerable of the brain and brawn involved 
in the past and present interests of Chicago. 



Page thirty-nine 




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THE LIBRARY 
Home of Mrs. Louise Griesbach, La Grange. 111. 




Photo by Snyder 



THE DRAWING ROOM 
Home of Mrs. Louise Griesbach, La Grange, III. 



Page fifty-six 




Photo by Snvdfr 



Photo by Snyder 



THE LIBRARY. LOOKING INTO DINING ROOM 
Home of Mrs. Louise Griesbach. La Grange. III. 




A CORNER IN THE DRAWING ROOM 
Home of Mrs. Louise Griesbach. La Grange. III. 



Page fifty-seven 




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HOME OF MR. HOMER J. BUCKLEY 
240 South Eighth Ave., La Grange, lU. 




Photo by Snvder 



HOME OF MR. ROBERT C. FLETCHER 
224 South Stone Ave., La Grange, 111. 



Pa^e sixty-two 




Photo liy Siiyrlcr 



HOME OF MR. SIUXEY S. GORHAM 
43(1 South Stone Ave., La Grange, 111. 




HUME OF MR. E. J. ROGERSON 
;i44 South Stone Ave.. La Grange, 111. 



Pui^c sixty-thrtw 




HOME OF MR. MASON H. SHERMAN 
121 Eighth Ave., La Grange, III. 




Photo by Snyiler 



HOME OF MR. ALBERT A. HENRY 
136 South Fifth Ave., La Grange, III. 



Page sixty-four 




photo hy Snyder 



HOME OF MR. LEONARD H. VAUGHAN 
Western Springs, 111. 



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Photo hy Snyder 



HOME OF MR. ALFRED E. PETERS 
Western Springs, III. 



Page sixty- five 








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HOME OF MR. GEO. W. MORGAN 
Grand Ave., Western Springs, III. 




Photo hy Bemi 



HOME OF MR. ROBERT L. WOODCOCK 
8o South Washington St., Hinsdale. HI. 



Page sixty-eight 




HOME OF MR. OLIVER J. BUSHXELL 
Hinsdale. 111. 




HOME OF MR. R. O. SCHMIDT 
179 First St.. Hinsdale. 111. 



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Photo by Bemni 



HOME OF MR. GEORGE M. FISHER 
M First St., Hinsdale, 111. 




HOME OF MR. W. H. KNIGHT 
127 Park Ave., Hinsdale, 111. 



Page eighty 




Page eighty-one 




Page eighty-two 



Traditions of the Western Suburbs 



RIVERSIDE 

"We quarrel of land and line; 

We bicker of work and wage; 
We trouble our souls with a doleful sign. 

Forgetting our heritage; 
Forgetting the tireless hands; 

Forgetting the restless feet 
That fared undaunted through unknown lands 

Till the path was made complete." 

ABOUT four miles from Fort Dearborn and on the west bank of 
/"A the south fork of the Chicago river, in the year 1826, were found 
five or six log cabins. This community was distinguished by 
the title of " Hardscrabble." Whether the latter indicated the "scrab- 
ble" for existence on the part of its members, or its problem of approach 
to the wayfarer, the author is not prepared to state. There remains 
a record, however, as to its "dreary expan.se of prairie with occasional 
patches of timber." In one of these log structures, lived two brothers, 
David and Bemardus Laughton, who in 1827, moved to the Des 
Plaines. 

The Laughtons (also mis-spelled Lawton) were Indian traders and 
with an intuition of the advantages to be derived by establishing them- 
selves westward of "Hardscrabble," they resolved to remain in this 
more picturesque and sheltered environment. On the site of the 
present Riverside, and in immediate proximity to the spring, which 
tradition designates as "Bourbon," these brothers erected a preten- 
tious dwelling of logs, which was to ser\-e the purpose of a tavern, 
or road-house, or inn as our English cousins would say. 

For years this tavern was a favorite resort of the wayfarer to and 
from Chicago. Bemardus or "Barney" Laughton — as he was more 
familiarly designated — in 1830, married Miss Sophia Bates of Ver- 
mont. Miss Bates was the sister of Mrs. Stephen Forbes, Chicago's 
first regular school teacher. 

To the banks of the picturesque Des Plaines, Bemardus Laughton 
took his wife. She was not altogether contented. The Indians were 
not yet out of the territory, and neighbors were few, and miles apart, 
while women were the exception rather than the riile among those who 
essayed to partake of the hospitality of the Laughton tavern. 

"It was almost dark when we reached the Lawtons," writes Juliette 
A. Kinzie, in her valuable "Wau-Bun." "The Aux Plaines was frozen 
and the house was on the other side. By loud shouting wc brought 
out a man from the building and he succeeded in cutting the ice and 



Page eighty-three 



BOOK OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 

bringing a canoe over to us; but not until it had become difficult to 
distinguish objects in the darkness. A very comfortable house was 
Lawton's after we did reach it — carpeted and with a warm stove — 
in fact, quite in civilized style. Mr. Weeks, the man who brought 
us across, was the major-domo, during the temporary absence of Mr. 
Lawton. Mrs. Lawton was a young woman and not ill-looking. She 
complained bitterly of the loneliness of her condition, and having 
been brought out there in the woods; which was a thing she did not 
expect when she came from the East. We did not ask her with what 
expectations she had come to a wild unsettled country, but we tried 
to comfort her with the assurance that things would grow better in 
a few years. She said she did not intend to wait for that, she should 
go back to her family in the East if Mr. Lawton did not invite her 
young friends to come and stay with her and make it agreeable." 

In the Autimm of this same year (1831), Stephen Forbes and his 
wife (Mrs. Laughton's sister) went to live in this vicinity. Mr. Forbes 
built a pretentious log dwelling which must have been somewhere in 
the neighborhood of the present Wesencraft homestead. Later, Mr. 
Forbes, who had also taught school in Chicago, became the pioneer 
appointee to the office of Sheriff of Cook County. 

By again referring to " Wau-Bun," a picture of the country between 
Laughton's place and Chicago is obtained. "We could hardly reahze," 
writes Mrs. Kinzie, "on rising the following morning that only twelve 
miles of prairie intervened between us and Chicago le Desire as I could 
but name it. We could look across the extended plain, and on its 
farthest edge were visible two tall trees, which my husband pointed 
out to me as the planting of his own hand when a boy. Already they 
had become so lofty as to serve as landmarks and they were constantly 
in view as we traveled the beaten road." 

Tradition tells of a ford in this vicinity, near the present iron bridge 
just below the dam. This was part of an old trail which the Indian 
followed in crossing the Des Plaines, and which continued its course 
across the prairie to Chicago. The early settlers also utilized this ford 
in taking their cattle to water. The " Indian Garden," really an Indian 
burying ground, from which many spear-heads, arrow-heads and other 
relics have been obtained, was a beauty spot where wild flowers bloomed 
in lavish profusion, and which gave to the early days of Riverside a 
fame among botanists. 

The first substantial frame house of pretentious aspect was built by 
William Wesencraft, who came with his family in the early fifties. 
His widow and daughter still occupy this home. Modem conditions 
have served to somewhat change its interior aspect, otherwise, save for 
renewed coats of paint from time to time, and the early addition of 
a conservatory, the exterior remains practically the same as when the 
house was erected in its beautiful grove of elm, maple, black walnut 
and oak. Mr. Wesencraft and his wife being descended from old 
Enghsh families who designated their estates by distinguishing titles, 
naturally bestowed upon his acreage and home, a name suitable to its 
environment. The estate extended to the Des Plaines, its western 
portion having a broad curving sweep to the water, so, at a family 
gathering and in the presence of friends from Chicago, the homestead 
was designated "Riverside." 



Page eighty-four 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 




"RIVERSIDE" 

Home of Mrs. Jane Churchill Wesencraft 

Pine Ave.. Riverside. 111. 



Mrs. Jane Churchill Wesencraft is now in her eighty-ninth year, 
and apart from occasional attacks of rheumatism, is still in the enjoy- 
ment of health. The author found her very entertaining, as her 
memory is alive with reminiscences of a past associated with this par- 
ticular locality. She speaks with enthusiasm of the "wonderful old 
trees" — some of them yet in close proximity to the home — which 
abounded in the neighborhood, while her daughter cherishes pleasant 
memories of a girlhood into which enter scampering pony rides over 
the many trails, which even then, intersected this vicinity. Then 
there are recollections of several small log cabins, which hither and 
yon dotted the landscape and bore evidence of former occupancy by 
hunter or trader. Neither mother nor daughter, however, recall 
" Laughton's Tavern," so it must have ceased to exist before their 
time. 

Among the many beautiful trees, on and adjacent to the Wesen- 
craft homestead, two are most tenderly cherished. They are elms of 
stately growth and magnificent proportions, spreading and affording 
friendly and grateful shade to the home which sprang into existence 
while they were yet old denizens of the forest. Mrs. Wesencraft and 
her daughter cherish the right kind of sentiment toward their preser- 
vation, so these two magnificent specimens of the original tree growth 
of a century or more before the coming of the j^ale face to this region, 



Page eighty-five 



BOOK OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 

tower erect and lordly with beneficent purpose radiating from their 
friendly, wide-spreading branches. 

As Mrs. Jane Churchill Wesencraft sat by the cheery grate fire, her 
hands resting lightly on her lap, there was a striking resemblance to 
a world-famous painting. The same patient attitude, the same sugges- 
tion to dignity, the same fine features upon which Time alone has left 
its furrows, and the same arrangement of smooth, grey hair. The 
white lace cap was all that was missing from this living suggestion to 
"My Mother," by Whistler. 

In 1864 David Gage purchased twelve hundred acres, embracing 
much of that which is now the business aad earlier residence portion 
of the town. Mr. Gage had become impressed with the title adopted 
by the Wesencraft family, and called his acres, "Riverside Farm." 
At this particular time, he owned and conducted a hotel in the young 
city of Chicago, and he purchased this site for a farm, with the inten- 
tion of raising products with which to satisfy the gastronomic require- 
ments of his patrons. Four years later, a body of enterprising indi- 
viduals, with Emery E. Childs as the moving spirit, conceived the 
notion of founding a model suburban town near Chicago. 

The lovely Des Plaines region made its appeal, and, after negotia- 
tions by which Mr. Gage conveyed to Mr. Childs, his acres, the " River- 
side Improvement Company" with a capital of one million dollars, 
came into being. The landscape architects, Olmstead and Vaux, were 
engaged to design a plat of the site. Frederick Law Olmstead, who 
died in 1903, became enthusiastic over its possibilities, and, using the 
winding river as a motif, he resolved the whole plat into a series of ovals 
and curves. The Riverside of today — for the original title was 
retained — is a memorial to the artistic skill and ingenuity of Mr. 
Olmstead, as well as to the enterprise of the company, which made 
considerable financial sacrifice in allowing seven hundred acres of the 
sixteen hundred acquired, to represent roads, borders, walks, and 
parks and commons. 

Artesian wells afforded a plentiful and pure water supply, and 
ample provision was made for the sanitary disposal of sewage. So the 
new suburb was launched amid much enthusiasm and considerable 
promise. But the disasters that affected Chicago — panic and fire — 
also weighed heavily upon this enterprise, and Riverside had to abide 
its season. 

Today it is alive to its possibilities. Schools, churches, social 
organizations; golf, boating, canoeing, and other out door sports, pre- 
vail. The banks of its river having been strictly preserved as parks, 
are today, a dream of woodland beauty. The kings of the original 
forest now neighbor with a rich second growth. 

Riverside is particularly a town of couijtry homes. This fact is 
emphasized by the railroad's architectural entrance, its station being 
in close proximity to the quaint, ivy-covered water tower, which forms 
the centre of a park-like circle, rich with blooms in season, while its 
highways and bj'ways vanish into curving vistas of green, environing 
many beautiful homes. 

Artists have been attracted by the Des Plaines in the region of 
Riverside, for its sylvan beauty is an inspiration to the brush. The 
late David F. Bigelow, who will go down to posterity as the tender 



Page eighty-six 



HIGH \V A V S A X D B Y W AYS 



PAST AND PRESENT 



delineator of the Adirondack region, will also be remembered for his 
scenes on the Dcs Plaines, as well as from the fact, that for many 
seasons he conducted sketching classes here. Mrs. Annie C. Dyren- 
forth is the pioneer piano teacher, she having taught music in this 
suburb for the past forty years. 

=^ ^^ =^>fc ==fc ^-c 

Across the Des Plaines from Riverside, is the quaint town of Lyons, 
bearing unmistakeable evidence of a traditional past. Years before 
Riverside was platted, Lyons had its schoolhouse and church of logs, 
and a community of homes. The latter were invariably built of logs to 
be again superseded by those of frame. Later, came Frederick Schviltz 
to the neighborhood, bringing thirty men to work a quarry and lime- 
kilns. Mr. Schultz is still hving in a pretentious homestead of brick 
in this vicinity. He is hale and hearty, jovial and kindly, and delights 
in telhng of the many vicissitudes through which Lyons has passed 
since he came to the town. Through the enterprise of one of Chicago's 
business men, the river in this region is always broad and deep, for a 
fine dam has been constructed by Mr. George Hofmann, an electric 
tower built in a park designated "Niagara," and the banks of the 
river for some distance, improved by cement copings. All of these 
additions have materially added to the well-kempt appearance as 
■viewed from the Riverside bank. 

There are unlimited possibilities in the development of Lyons, 
should the right kind of syndicate lay hold and remodel the quaint 
little town around which legend and tradition has interwoven more or 
less of interest. Today, it lies smiling in its pieturesqueness, reminding 
one of a willful child determined to have its own way, and "gang its 
ain gait" in spite of friendly protest. Its moment of opportunity will 
come; then Lyons will take upon itself such responsibilities as will 
mark an era of grace and beauty in suburban development. 




A PASTORAL SCENE ON SALT CREEK 



Page eighty-seven 




Page eighty-eight 




, L. I)e Marras 



SALT CREEK 
Brookfield. 111. 



HOLLYWOOD, BROOKFIELD, CONGRESS PARK 

INTERVENING between Riverside and La Grange, on the Chi- 
cago, BurHngton and Quincy railroad, are three deHghtfully modem 
suburbs, bearing evidence of man's ingenuity in converting the 
prairie land into sites, either of which forms a perfect picture of artistic 
design. These suburbs were originally platted by S. E. Gross and 
were then known as East Grossdale, Grossdale and West Grossdale. 
Now Hollywood, Brookfield and Congress Park, as they are recognized 
today, are incorporated into one village organization with its governing 
powers at Brookfield. 

"Brookfield!" What does it suggest? A field or a bit of prairie 
bordering a stream. Through this particular bit of prairie, winding 
about and curving into the soft alluvial soil, now hastening onward, 
and again leisurely pursuing its way, journeys Salt Creek. A preju- 
dice existed among would-be settlers for some time after it was chris- 
tened "Salt." Naturally, they imagined its waters must be of a saline 
nature. Perhaps this is the secret of the very modem aspect of the 
three suburbs. Settlers passed it by, not caring for brackish waters! 
Its legend of a farmer's wagon, on which was a load of salt, becoming 
stranded in an attempt to ford it, and having to throw the salt into 
the brook in order to extricate the vehicle, accounts for its designation. 



Page eighty-nine 



BOOK 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 




THE WOODED BANKS OF SALT CREEK 
Brookfield, III. 



The stream seems to have had no distinguishing title until then, when 
"Salt Creek" was bestowed upon it more in jest than in earnest. 
But the name clung to it, and Brookfield itself has overcome its 
prejudice. 

At certain seasons of the year, a clear, flowing stream, very brook- 
like in its mode of progress toward the Dcs Plaines, of which it is no 
small affluent, is Salt Creek. In places its banks are quite high and 
beautifully wooded. In other places it rambles through meadow lands 
rich with the harvest, but always suggesting purposeful action. 

Whoever conceived the plan of building a kindergarten in its vicinity, 
planned better than he knew. The building itself, extremely artistic 
of design, cuddles to the landscape in an environment of lawn and 
flowers, sheltered and shaded by a superb tree growth. 

Mr. William Drummond, an architect whose name should go down 
to posterity in the design of this beautiful structure, evidently held 
the child thought w^ell in mind. For the building crouches as a mother 
to her darling, which is just beginning to gain confidence in the first 
steps; while the eaves spread like the protecting wings of Heaven 
itself, inviting the confidence of the youngster approaching. Once 
inside its doors, he is in an environment of that which is refined, artistic, 
and disciplinary. Trained in such an atmosphere of health and beauty 
what may we expect of the child's future? 

In this suburb, a distinctive style of architecture is being fostered. 
Mr. Conrad Schneider is the pioneer builder of the unique and sub- 
stantial homes of boulders, chamiing structures that catch the lights 
and shadows, and, consequently, never present quite the same picture 
when viewed in the varying aspects between dawn and sunset. The 
highways of Brookfield radiate from the railroad station, being broad, 
well-paved streets, shaded with trees. 



Page ninety 



HIGH W A Y S AND B Y W A Y S 



PAST AND PRESENT 



Brookficld's j;ro\vth, even in these days of steam and electricity, 
is a mangel. On April 7 of the present year (1912), the Brookfield 
State Bank opened with deposits of $7,375.82 and resources amounting 
to $32,376.02. By September 5, the deposits had increased to $76,- 
005.00, and the resources to $101,152.29, a remarkable showing for so 
short a period and in a suburban vicinity. The officers of this institu- 
tion which has added much to the financial status of the community, 
are John F. Hcin, president; Wilson W. Lampert, vice-president; 
Arthur H. Hein, cashier, with the following board of directors: Ralph 
Van Vechten, James R. Chapman, Charles Bossert, Ernest B. Gra- 
ham, E. T. Konsberg, Wilson W. Lampert, Konrad Ricker, F. C. 
Schultz, H. H. Seekamp, Byron C. Thorpe and John F. Hein. 




i 



LA GRANGE COUNTRY CLUB 
La Grange, III. 



Page ninety-one 




I'esigned I'j Conrad Schneider 

THE BOULDERS 
Home of Mr. E. D. Floyd. 712 Bell Ave.. La Grange. 111. 



LA GRANGE 

IN 1837, the same year that Chicago was incorporated as a city and 
Martin Van Bviren became eighth president of the United States, 

there came to Chicago from New York State, a youth of seventeen 
years. No one entered Chicago, at that period, with the notion of 
remaining idle. Everybody worked, taking the first thing that offered 
no matter whether it was of brain or of brawn, or of both combined. 
Everybody haihng from the East was dubbed a "Yankee," and this 
term became synonymous with work, energy and thrift. Our lad of 
seventeen immediately qualified for work, laborious but remunerative. 
In less than eight years after his arrival in Chicago, the youth, now in 
sturdy young manhood, became the proprietor of 440 acres, distant 
about fifteen miles from Chicago; and in the heart of the prairie coun- 
try. Robert Leitch became a pioneer settler and built him a house of 
logs. 

By farming and stock raising, by hard work and thrift he acquired 
a competence. His name appears among the first voters of Lyons 
township in 1850. The town-site fever laid its fascination upon Robert 
Leitch, and in later years, he devised the platting of the same, under 



Page ninety-two 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 




Photo by Snyder 



LILAC LODGE 
Home of Mr. Chalderec L. De Marras 
537 North Stone Ave., La Grange, IlL 



the title of "Kensington Heights." But reverses came and selling out 
his interests to Mrs. Breed, Mr. Leitch moved with his family to Chi- 
cago, in which city he had a distillery. In 1872 his plant was destroyed 
bv fire, and he then became associated with the "Garden City Dis- 
tillery." 

In the meantime, railroads were urging their way out over the 
prairie and the C. B. & Q. had its station "West Lyons" on or near 
Mr. Leitch's former proposed town site. The War of the Rebellion 
had been fought and among the many southerners who suffered from 
its devastating effects, was Franklin D. Cossitt, who had been engaged 
in business in Chicago for some j-ears. In 1871, Mr. Cossitt platted 
the sub-division, naming it La Grange after his former home in Ten- 
nessee, which latter, is said to have been so named after General Lafay- 
ette's ancestral home in the romantic and picturesque part of France, 
known as Auvergne. But the heart of La Grange, Illinois, pulsates 
over the site of the pioneer log cabin of Robert Leitch. 

In 1881, Mr. Leitch returned to La Grange, occupying a portion 
of his original tract and building a frame house there. In his time he 
had served for eight years as Road Commissioner, and as a member of 
the School Board, and died last Autumn at the ripe age of ninety-two. 
His descendants, a sister, a daughter and two granddaughters occupy 
the home, which to some extent has been modernized to meet the 
requirements of the family. 



Pa^e ninety-three 



BOOK OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 




Photo by Bern: 



HOME OF MR. MONROE FULKERSON 
630 North Ashland Ave.. La Grange. 111. 

Miss Rebecca Leitch, the sister of the pioneer, is now in her eighty- 
ninth year, and recalls the old plank highway by which the settlers 
went to and from Chicago. It left the Bull's Head tavern, Madison 
Street — the site now occupied by the Washingtonian Home — and 
passed through Lyons to Brush Hill, a distance of some sixteen or 
seventeen miles. In spite of her years. Miss Leitch is hale and hearty. 
She admitted to having had some prejudice toward the automobile, 
but she now thoroughly enjoys accompanying her niece and two grand- 
nieces, one of the latter. Miss Olive, being the chaufifeuress, on "quite 
a jaimt," and that, too, without "feeling nervous." Asked her opinion 
regarding "flying-ships" which she has seen hovering above La Grange, 
Miss Leitch thinks they will never be "favored" as modes of travel. 
"No stations and no regular track can be possible up in the air where 
the winds have it all their own way," she affirms quite positively. 

Soon after Mr. Cossitt sub-divided the tract, he planted trees with 
a generous spirit, with the result, that the La Grange of the present 
bears the impression of having been carved from a forest rather than 
builded on a prairie. Finely graded and exquisitely paved highways, 
thread the village — for it was incorporated as such in 1879. Des- 
cendants of Mr. Cossitt still continue to reside in La Grange, taking 
part in its commercial and social activities. 

Charming homes, environed by lawns and gardens, suggest liber- 
ality in the platting. The educational and social advantages are 
unexcelled. Here is located the Lyons Township High School, which 
is said to rank highest in Cook County, while the citizens of La Grange 
point with pride to the fact, that, from their educational institutions. 



Page ninety-four 



HIGHWAYS AND B Y \V A Y S — P A S T AND PRESENT 




THE HOME OF MISS REBECCA LEITCH 
Ogden Ave.. La Grange. 111. 

teachers for promotion to more important positions have gone forth 
with honor to their profession. There are two Cathohc educational 
institutions here, the St. Joseph Institute for boys and the Nazareth 
Academy for girls. The Masonic Orphan Home is also located here 
in a handsome structure. 

The water supply is of the purest and there is a super-abundant 
supply, while the town has just expended $125,000.00 for one of the 
most up-to-date methods for the disposal of sewage. According to 
the report of the State Board of Health, La Grange has the lowest 
mortality of any place in the State. 

Thornton Villa, a strictly ethical institution, has won fame by being 
placed in such a health-giving environment. For here, nervous pa- 
tients, find a home amid an environment of rest and cheer, together 
with all the modem equipment of an up-to-date sanitarium, while to 
those facing the twilight shadows and walking toward the silent shore, 
Thornton Villa presents the essentials of quietude and repose. 

Ten religious sects are here represented by as many handsome 
church homes. There are two banks, La Grange State Bank being 
the first established institution of its kind in the village. It now 
occupies the first floor of the handsome and dignified fireproof struc- 
ture, erected by the La Grange State Safety Vault Company. Its 
officers are L. C. Bassford, president; H. B. Kilgour, vice-president; 
C. W. Northrup, vice-president and cashier; W. N. Froom, assistant 
cashier, with the following gentlemen, who, together with the officers, 
constitute the board of directors: Frederick T. Boles, J. A. Brvdon, 
C. L. Iverson, A. H. Kemman, F. D. Cossitt, Geo. M. Vial, C. L. 
Sackett, F. C. Mandel. 



Page ninety-five 




WATER TOWER 
Western Springs. 111. 

WESTERN SPRINGS 

IN 1871 and just previous to Chicago's "Great Fire," the "Western 
Springs Association," with Thomas C. Hill as its moving spirit, 
came into existence as the sub-divider of the north-western comer of 
Lyons township. By 1873, Mr. Hill had become its pioneer post- 
master. A stream, known as Flag Creek, originates in this vicinity, 
where the earth is in the habit of throwing up mounds, from the apex 
of which water pours forth in such plenty, as to render Flag Creek 
a very pretentious stream as it takes its way in zig-zag fashion along 
the western portion of the township, finally entering the Des Plaines 
about two miles south of Willow Springs. But these eccentricities of 
the waters supplying Flag Creek, aided in originating the Suburb's 
designation "Western Springs." 

In the architecture of its homes, schools, churches and club house 
Western Springs is very modem of aspect. Its highways are well paved, 
and between the tall trees whose branches afford a welcome shade, are 
seen charming homes within a setting of lawn and shrub and flowers. 
The water supply is pure and plentiful; the disposal of sewage well 
provided for. Its water tower is a marked architectural feature as one 
enters the suburb from the railroad, and, during the season, Vaughan's 
nurseries, which are here located, and which are an important factor 
in Chicago's floral and seed market, bloom forth in radiant welcome. 



Page ninety-six 









h 


ggBI^ 


B! 



HINSDALE CLUB HOUSE 
Hinsdale, III. 

HINSDALE 

THE channinfj villaj^c of Hinsdale marks the entrance from the 
east to Du Page county — a section teeming with historical 
interest. To this vicinity, with no definite boundary lines, and 
with the Indians still in possession, came the adventurous settler. 
Here, in what is now Du Page count}-, they were planting and home- 
building even before Chicago was platted, knowing that the Govern- 
ment would soon dispose of the Red man's interests. 

As Riverside's early associations with Lyons, so Hinsdale's tradi- 
tions would not be complete without its historical connection with 
Brush Hill, now known as Fullersburg. At the time of the Black 
Hawk trouble. General Winfield Scott and his command, marched from 
Fort Dearborn, westward. Their first camping ground was "Bourbon 
Springs," now Riverside, and in close proximitj' to Laughton's tavern. 

Pursuing the trail westward, for there was no other highway, 
although the country itself was somewhat familiar b}^ chart — the 
Indian Boundary having been established here since 1816 — General 
Scott and his command covered portions of the prairie upon which, 
today, arc found ncath- pa\'cd highway's and byways intersecting the 
changing villages previously described. 

Approaching the more undulating jjortion of the prairie, just as we 
of today, with admiration for its gentle, billowy uplands intersected 
by grove and woodland, a distant elevation crowned with a heavy 
growth of scrub oak is observed. Reaching its summit, the conunand 



/'(igc ninety-seven 



BOOK OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 




THE OLD MILL OX SALT CREEK 
Fullersburg. lU. 



here halted for rest, and the soldiers designated it "Brush Hill," for 
it was rich in brush and it was the highest point thus far on their march 
from Fort Dearborn. 

Among the early settlers of Brush Hill (1833) was Benjamin Fuller. 
The old tavern in which he lived still remains. Here, Loie Fuller was 
born. And here, to the rhythmic melody of her father's fiddle, she 
first became imbued with that love of the art of Terpsichore which 
has made her name world-famous. It was Benjamin Fuller, who, in 
1851, incorporated Brush Hill as a village with its present title of Ful- 
lersburg. This hamlet is one of the delightful reminders of the days 
that were; daj's associated with primitive highways, with toll gates, 
wayside inns, a village smithy always busy, a quaint church to which 
the itinerant preacher traveled on horseback, while the click-clack of 
the mill, turned by water power, was a welcome to the farmer. And 
all this while Chicago was a mere village ! 

Today, the once busy hamlet is in somnolescent mood. It lost its 
opportunity with the contemplated railroad. On the banks of its 
picturesque stream may be found its only sign of activity. The old 
mill of brick is still there; its walls reduced to artistic shadings by the 
mellowing touches of Time. Hearken to its merry roundelay of modem 
accoin]jlishment by means of steam ! There are pretty, modest homes 
nearby, and the roads are adapted to the auto-tourist. He rushes 
through this "Sleepy Hollow" and over the more modem bridge by 
the mill, all unconscious of the traditional ground vibrating beneath. 
For in the early pioneer days, the slow-going oxteam blazed a byway; 
the steady old farm horse, whose master's poll-tax must be met by 
grading a section of road, struggled with primitive implements over 
the very highway which we now pass with ease and comfort and at a 
speed which should be deemed reckless. 

By 1851, Chicago had completed fifty miles of plank roads over the 
prairie. The southwest highway reached to Bmsh Hill, afterward to 
Naperville. Over this road from Chicago, and in the same year that the 



Page ninety-eight 



H I C. H W A V S 



A N I) H Y \V A Y S 



PAST A N I) I' K !•; S 1-; N T 




LV I'UUL. in.XbUALi;. ILL. 



citv had completed its "great waterworks system," rode a Vennont 
farmer. He happened on FiiUersburj^ — for Brush Hill was now 
reeognized under this newer name. Alfred Walker saw, and realized 
the farmini; and stoek raising,' possibilities of the neighborhood. He 
bought out the Fuller interests, and, four years later built a pretentious 
farm house, which in time found itself within the corporate limits of 
the Hinsdale then unborn. 

In 1862 — when tradition assures us that "wolves were still in the 
timber" — William Robbins, a native of New York State, who had, 
in his young manhood, come to the more promising Prairie State, later 
going to California where he engaged in mining and in banking business, 
returned to Illinois and jjurchased a goodly slice of its billowing and 
fair undulations, with here and there a nest of timber, and all within 
seventeen miles of Chicago with a railroad alread\- urging its way 
through to the west. 

The following year, Mr. Robbins had planned and built a home, 
and in 1864, he and his family were domiciled on the uplands of the 
prairie. Then, in a spirit of enterprise, he built homes for those desirous 
of renting until such times as they could decide on permanent settle- 
ment. And in the year of our "National Peace Thanksgiving," Mr. 
Robbins had platted Hinsdale! Later he built a noble schoolhouse of 
stone. His pioneer homestead, modernized, is still in the suburb of 
which he has rightly been titled the "Father." His daughter, Mrs. 
W. H. Knight, with her husband, occupies one of Hinsdale's most 
charming homes. 

Legends as to the origin of its name have been many. The story 
with the majority on its side, because of its reliable source, assures us 
that it was named for H. W. Hinsdale, who, when the C. B. & O. rail- 



Page ninety-nine 



BOOK 



O F 



THE 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 



road was in the course of building, assisted in financing the contractors. 
In recognition of these favors, Mr. Hinsdale was informed that a sta- 
tion had been named after him. 

Today, how fair is Hinsdale ! Its promoters, for others came after 
Air. Robbins, showed decided artistic taste in planning its beautiful 
highways which have been allowed to retain, as far as practicable, the 
natural undulations of this most beautiful portion of the Grand Prairie. 
The curving avenues, arched by trees of noble growth, between which are 
vistas of extensive lawns and soul-inspiring gardens, impress one with 
the unity of purpose portrayed — brotherly love and kindliness, and 
a consideration of neighborly rights. 

Schools, handsome churches, a club house and public library add 
much to Hinsdale's attraction as a home town. Recently, and iDcfore 
he died. Dr. D. K. Pearsons, a long time resident of the village, gave 
his beautiful homestead and extensive grounds to the village for a 
combined library and art institute. Judging from Hinsdale's past, her 
citizens will surely make the best of so liberal a gift, by at once, 
taking measures to carry out the wish of its thoughtful patron. 

The Village League, of which Mr. Geo. L. McCurdy is president, 
is an active body of village officers and citizens, delighting in the work, 
not only of beautifying, but of obtaining the best sanitary conditions. 
Therefore Hinsdale, impresses one with a quiet chami; with a dignity 
of purpose, with an atmosphere of hospitality, such as one only assoc- 
iates with places of older growth. 



"Nor has the world a better thing, 

Though one should search it round. 
Than thus to live one's whole sole king, 
Upon one's whole soul ground." 




SALT CREEK .\T WESTERN SPRINGS. ILL. 



Page one huinlrcd 




NEW C. B. & Q. STATION-. DOWNERS GROVE. ILL 



DOWNERS GROVE 

WHILE Pierce Downer, in 1832, was traveling westward from 
Chicago, over a sea of unexplored prairie, a steam packet-ship 
was crossing the ocean from Havre to New York. Among her 
passengers was .Samuel F. B. Morse, evolving his theory of the magnetic 
telegraph — the magic power which in a few short years was to link 
the prairie to the sea. But Pierce Downer pursued his way, hardly 
knowing in which port of entry to anchor. He had followed the primi- 
tive trail for many a weary mile in his hunt for the timber. Presently 
it hove in view. How inviting it was amid this sea of waving grasses! 
And Downer diverged from the trail to investigate. 

Pierce Downer is described as a "man of sound body, of energetic 
mind, bred in the ironclad integrity of his age, tenacious of his rights 
and able to defend them." This is why he was not at all nonplussed 
when he found himself in the presence of a band of Pottawatomies 
under their chief "Waubansie." They exhibited friendliness toward 
the lone stranger and Pierce Downer staked his claim. Here he re- 
mained one year in solitude, in the log home which he had builded for 
his family who was to follow him from New York State. On the 
arrival of the family the following year, his son .Stephen staked a claim 
on the east of the same beautiful grove of timber which appeared as 
an island in a vast sea of prairie. Later came two other settlers, locating 
on the southeast portion of the gro\-c, each claimant selecting his 
proper proportion of timber and prairie. 

A rather amusing incident, which might have had a fatal tennina- 
tion, is left to i:)Osterity regarding the settlement of a country, pre- 
ceding go\-emmcnt sur\'eys and in which covetoush- -disposed individuals 



P«?c hundred one 




PhotnLv Bemm 



HOME OF MR. W. J. HERRING 
193 East Maple Ave., Downers Grove, 111. 




Plioto by Reriim 



LIVING ROOM 
Home of Mr. W, J. Herring, Downers Grove, 111. 



Pa^e hundred hfo 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 

c-omc for the jmrjiosc of opi)orlunity to "jump a claim." Returning 
from Chica^'o, where he had j^'one to olitain necessary suppHes, Mr. 
Downer found two men busily intent upon erecting a cabin on a portion 
of his claim. Arming himself with a stout hickory .stick cut from a 
nearby tree, he used it with telling effect, until, overcome by exhaustion, 
he was borne to the ground by the two claim-jumpers whom he had so 
fiercely attacked. They allowed Mr. Downer to regain his feet, and then 
sped away, while Mr. Downer hastened to his cabin in the opposite 
direction. 

Israel P. Blodgctt bought land in this vicinity, and in 1835 moved 
here with his family, from his ])ioneer farm near the forks of the Du 
Page. Tradition points to the fact that one of Mr. Downer's beaten 
"claim-jumpers" purchased this farm from Mr. Blodgett, feeling that 
Downer's would no longer be a comfortable place for him. In August 
of the year above mentioned, Samuel Curtis, of Vennont, bought 
a portion of Mr. Blodgett's land. Downers Grove was ofT the original 
trail from Naperville to Chicago, and in the early days, desirable trade 
was lost on this account. Mr. Blodgett and Mr. Curtis solved the 
problem, by blazing a good, broad highway, some two miles in length, 
that should intercept the original trail at either end. This was accom- 
plished under difficulties and with primitive implements. Six yoke 
of oxen were hitched to the trunk of a felled tree of goodly proportions ; 
when, by dragging this clumsy burden back and forth, the prairie 
turf was gradually ground down into a well-beaten track ! Then these 
enterprising pioneers defined each side of the highway, by rows of hard 
maples, which they obtained from the neighboring grove. 

Yesterday, the twelve patient oxen toiling under difficulties to 
create a highway! Today, Maple avenue, for this is the designation 
of this particular road, is one of many brick-paved highways traversing 
this suburb. Its maples rear their pillars upward until the branches, 
extending from either side, meet in fan-like contour, reminding one of 
the stately columns and vaulted arches of some cathedral aisle. Surely 
no better inonument is needed to perpetuate the memory of Israel P. 
Blodgett and Samuel Curtis than this beautiful highway, over which 
the autoists now speed without dreaming they enjoy all by the "grace 
of the men of old." 

Mr. Blodgett, whose homestead is now occupied by one of his 
descendants, and which faces this highway, was a blacksmith as well 
as a farmer. He kept mostly to his trade, and hired workers for the 
farm and stock range. Mr. Blodgctt is credited with making the first 
plow which would work the prairie soil and scour and brighten itself 
during the process. Up to this period, all plows were made with 
a wooden mold board and the plowman had to carry a paddle or 
scraper, with which to scrape off the dirt that adhered to the 
mold board and share. But Israel P. Blodgett never patented his 
improvement and. later, other plow-makers reaped the reward of 
his invention. 

The site of the village of Downers Gro\'e was a favorite haunt of 
the Indian. Beside the band to which allusion has already been made, 
another of equal prominence, was that of which Aptakisic or Half 
Day, was chief. This band had been in the habit of frequenting the 
grove, which had become the property of Mr. Blodgett, for the \iur- 



Page hundred three 




Page hundred four 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS— PAST AND PRESENT 







1^ 'i^tf^K 


'1 Sb "* 




iiSS 


jf^''#f,i 


i^^^ '" - 


'' ' . .^^^i^l^^^^^^^^^^^E 



HciME OF MR. J. D. GILLESPIE 
Downers Grove, 111. 



pose of making maple sugar. When the settlers took possession of 
the territory, it was a great hardship to the Indian. But old Half 
Day accci)ted the inevitable and became a loyal ally of the settlers. 

Downers Grove township was incorporated in 1850, and the village 
bearing the same name, in 1854. Both perpetuate the name of its 
brave pioneer settler. For it took courage of no mean kind to stake 
a claim in the midst of roving bands of Indians, and it required a fine 
spirit of forbearance to live in among them ; but Pierce Downer seems 
to have been equal to the undertaking, so his name is preserved to 
posterity. 

When Lincoln's first call came for volunteers, Walter Blanchard, 
who was one of the early settlers of Downers Grove, responded by 
organizing a company in Du Page county. This became known as 
Company K of the famous Thirteenth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, 
which answered to the first call for three years' service men. This 
regiment was in some of the hottest battles of the Civil War. At 
Ringgold (iap Captain Blanchard received an injury necessitating 
the amputation of one of his legs, but he died after the shock. His 
last words on the field of battle and at the moment that the ball had 
shattered his leg are as momentous as any uttered by battle-stricken 
heroes of no matter what nation and are here recorded to the honor 
of Downers Grove's military hero, who was then fifty-five years of age: 
"Don't give up boys! Fire away!" 



Page hundred five 




HOME OF MR, J, K. SEBREE 
Belmont. Ill 




VIEW OF GROUNDS AND SWIMMING POOL 
From porch of home of Mr, J K. Sebree. Belmont. Ill 



Page hundred six 



H I C, H \V A V S A N 13 B V VV A V S -PAST A X U 1' R E S K N T 




rhr-to by Beiiim 



DOWNERS GROVE 
From the heights at Belmont 



Religious and secular educational uplift early developed in this 
community. The itinerant preacher — and how self-sacrificing were 
these earnest men — soon gave place to the regularly appointed minister 
in a well-established edifice — which, toda\', represents nine religious 
sects in as many places of worship. The log school house, or homes 
used for school purposes in earlier days, gave place to the pioneer 
"district school" in 1838. The latter was the forerunner of the fine 
public schools of later date. 

It was the writer's privilege, while delving into these highways 
and byways of the past and present, to meet the family of Dexter 
Capron Stanley, who came with his father and brothers to Downers 
Grove in the early years of its settlement. Mr. Stanley is in his ninety- 
seventh year, with a fair lack of all aches associated with .such ripened 
years. His fine memory adds to the charm of the reminiscent jxist. 
He has occupied the homestead in which he now lives for the past 
forty years. He recalls early pioneer days; his father's first log cabin; 
the plentiful game on the prairies; the exciting wolf and fox htmts; 
the seasons when prairie chicken was plentiful and when the wild 
geese and ducks frequented the marshes of the Du Page. Mrs. Stanley 
is the daughter of an Indiana pioneer. The couple were married in 
Michigan City of that State. Mrs. Stanley is now in her seventy- 
.scvcnth year, a i)icture of health, contentment and checriness, and 
retaining the old-time hospitality in greeting the stranger — that per- 



Pune hundred seven 



BOOK OF 



THE 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 



fection of graciousness on the part of the hostess that always provides 
for one or two more unexpecteds at the home table. 

Its attractive raUroad entrance, its beautifully shaded highways 
and charming homes — quite a few of the latter being extremely modem 
of aspect — its schools, churches, social organizations and library, 
together with its supply of pure water, render Downers Grove an 
ideal village, with modem improvements enough to suggest the city, 
but with the beautifully rolling country on either side. 

A little west of the callage proper and on Maple avenue, is found 
the highest point of land hereabout, commanding an extensive view 
of the surrounding country. Here, some years ago, one of the Stanley 
brothers built a home. The site is now occupied by the home of Mr. 
James K. Sebree. This elevation is about two hundred feet above 
Lake Michigan, while grove-crowned uplands gradually vanishing in 
the distance, greet the eye on either side, affording picturesque sur- 
prises in the varying seasons as well as between the hours of dawn 
and departing day. 




THE STONE BRIDGE. DU PAGE RIVER 
Xaperville. 111. 



Page hundred eight 




HOME OF MR. EZRA E. MILLER 
Corner Front Street and Chicago Avenue, Xaperville. ill. 



NAPERVILLE 

DU Page County derives its name from the Du Page River, the 
latter being named for an Indian trader, the first of the white 
race to invade this region. Du Page had established himself 
near the confluence of the forks some time toward the close of the 
eighteenth century. Legends tell of his friendly relations with the 
Indians, of his genial manner toward those who first met him in his 
wilderness retreat, and that when the real settlers came — 1830 — the 
ri\"er was already known as the Du Page. 

The attention of the reader has already been drawn to the fact that 
rivers, brooks and creeks proved as attractive to the white man as to 
the Indian. Upon the banks of the streams was more or less timber 
affording shelter from the winds of the open prairie. Fish might be 
obtained; deer and other animals whose skin was of commercial value 
would congregate here. A simple canoe, or dug-out, or primitive 
flat-bottom craft, proved of untold advantage in travel. Again, from 
the more ])ractical view-point of the settler, grist-mills and saw-mills 
might be established by aid of water-power; while the fanner, without 
undue cfi'ort on his part, was in jjossession of a watering jjlace for the 
cattle. 



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Page hundred twelve 



HIGHWAYS AND BV WAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 



In such localities were found the larj^cst of Indian villages; and 
hither came the pale face, staking his claim and building a log home. 
From such ;)rimitivc beginnings grew communities, that developed 
into thriving villages, and which today surijrise by their live, upto- 
datc aspect. 

Either affluents of the Du Page, but more particularly its western 
tributary, attracted the first settlers. Mrs. Kinzie, in "Wau-Bun, " 
\-ery graphically describes her exijcrienees in crossing both branches, 
when on her way to Chicago in 1831. The party had stopped on its 
way westward, at a settlement in the vicinity of what is now called 
Oswego. Mrs. Kinzie tells of the "long stretch of prairie" intervening 
between the latter and the "west fork of the Du Page." 

"The weather was extremely cold," she writes, "the wind sweeping 
over the wide i;)rairie with nothing to break its force. . . I beat my 
feet against the saddle to restore circulation . . . until they were 
so bruised I could beat them no longer. Not a house or wigwam, not 
even a clum]j of trees as a shelter offered itself for many a weary mile. 
At length we reached the west fork of the Du Page. It was frozen 
but not sufficiently so to bear the horses. Our only resource was to 
cut a way for them through the ice. It was a work of time for the 
ice had frozen to several inches in thickness. 

"Plantc went first with the axe and cut as far as he could reach, 
then mounted one of the hardy little ponies and with some difliiculty 
broke the ice before him, until he had opened a passage to the opposite 
shore. We were all across at last, and spurred on our horses, until 
we reached Hawlcy's, a large commodious dwelling near the east fork 
of the ri\-er. The good woman welcomed us kindly and soon made us 
warm and comfortable. She proceeded immediately to prepare dinner 
for us, and we watched her with eager eyes, as she took down a large 
ham from the rafters, out of which she cut innumerable slices, then 
broke a dozen or more eggs into a jjan, in readiness for frying — then 
mixed a johnny-cake and placed it against a board in front of the fire 
to bake. 

"It seemed to me that even with the aid of this fine bright fire, the 
dinner took unconscionable time to cook; but cooked at last it was, 
and truly might the good woman stare at the travelers' appetites. . . 
She did not know what short commons we had been on for the last 
two days. We found that we could, by pushing on, reach Lawton's 
on the Aux Plaines that night — we should then be about twelve 
miles of Chicago. . . We made no unnecessary delay. . . The 
crossing of the cast fork of the Du Page was more perilous than the 
former had been. The ice had become broken . . . floating dowm 
in large cakes. The horses had to make a rapid dart through the 
water, which was so high and rushing in such a torrent that if I had 
not been mounted on Jerry, the tallest horse in the cavalcade, I must 
have got a terrible splashing. As it was I was well frightened and 
grasped both bridle and mane with the utmost tenacity." 

The Hawley to whom Mrs. Kinzie alludes was Pierce (sometimes 
mis-spelled "Perez") Hawley, who staked a claim on the east fork of 
the Du Page in June, 1830, about the same time as the Blodgctt family 



Page hundred thirteen 




Page hundred fourteen 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 

and others staked claims near the Scott Settlement, which was in close 
proximity to the conjunction of the forks of the river. 

The Naper brothers, Joseph and John, possessed the essential 
characteristics of the pioneer, being stronj^ of physique and with good 
staying powers. They were level-headed, broadminded, peaceably and 
kindly disposed, generously inclined, and courageous when danger 
threatened. Joseph, the cider brother, began his career as a cabin 
boy on a steamer on Lake Eric, remaining as a sailor on the Lakes 
until he was promoted to the dignity of Captain of a steamer which 
plyed between BufTalo and Detroit 1828-1830. John Naper was a sailor, 
also, and when exi:)erienccd enough, took the command of a sailing vessel 
until 1830. In the early spring of this year, Joseph staked a claim 
on the banks of the Du Page. The Naper brothers owned a vessel, 
the "Telegraph," which they sold on condition that they should deliver 
it in Chicago. 

In June, 1831, the Naper brothers with their respective families 
as well as the families of John Murray, Lyman Buttcrfield, Harry T. 
Wilson, and a man named Carpenter, set sail from Ashtabula, Ohio, 
on the "Telegraph," arriving in Chicago about the middle of July. 
In due course they pursued their wa\- over the trails in prairie schooners, 
arriving at the west branch of the Du Page, on the site of what is now 
the village of Naperville. 

The season was so far advanced, that it was useless to plant any- 
thing but buckwheat and rutabagas. Later, the former fields attracted 
the prairie chickens in droves. They liked the new food, and the 
settlers enjoyed prairie chicken dinners. 

By the middle of September of the same year, this settlement had 
made provision for the education of its young folks. The contract 
with the first pedagogue, Lester Peet, was made for a term of four 
months with a consideration of twelve dollars per month. It also 
stipulated that the teacher should "board with the scholars"; and that 
he "agree on his ]jart to teach a regular English school, teaching 
spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, and English grammar if required." 
A list of names is appended to the contract, by which each subscriber 
pledges himself to pay for the number of scholars placed after his name. 
Joseph Naper heads the list with .six. There were no funds with which 
to build a schoolhouse, but material was in the groves and willing 
hands and stout hearts did the rest and the log schoolhouse was ready 
by November 15. 

That autumn a sawmill was under construction and this particular 
settlement as well as others some few miles below grew in numbers 
although the Indians were not yet out of the country. Among the 
arrivals, after the Naper colony was established, was Christopher 
Paine, a real genius in the devising of ways and means by which to 
surmount obstacles obtruding on the economic conditions of the 
settler. The Napcrs had brought to the vicinity the iron work needed 
in the construction of the sawmill mentioned above. But a dam 
was needed to secure the power. Mr. Paine, with actually nothing at 
command for this particular inirpose, was called upon to devise and 
construct the dam. 



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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS— PAST AND PRESENT 



Nothing daunted, the pioneer enj^incer bcj^an his work. First he 
laid a scries of logs, next in order came stone, then the straw from the 
buckwheat fields of the jjrevious summer was laid in order to hold the 
dirt in ]jlace with which the logs and stones were to be iDound together. 
By the spring of the next year, 1832, the pioneer mill of Dti Page 
county was in working order ! A grist mill was badly needed, and Pierce 
Hawley, who, with the Scotts and the Blodgctts kept up a friendly 
intercourse with all the new arrivals, planned for the construction of 
the mill, if he could only get mill-stones. In his dilemma, he sought 
Mr. Paine who, after some moments of quiet thinking, exclaimed, 
"By Jinks, I can make 'em." Hawley believed he could, so set to work 
to perform his part in the building of the structure. 

Paine selected from the grove, two good boulders, and b\- the aid 
of stone chisels — the production of Blodgett, the blacksmith — pecked 
and pecked, until he had the boulders fashioned into upjjer and nether 
millstones! These were propelled by oxen yoked to a sweep. Each 
neighbor brought his grain, grinding the same with his own yoke of 
oxen or team. No record is found of tolls being paid. It seems to 
have been a free institution; one of brotherly helpfulness. 

Mr. Paine also encouraged the cultivation of flax and made the 
necessary machinery, spinning-wheel and loom, by which it might be 
woven into material for clothing, etc. Airs. Paine possessed the true 
helpful spirit of the pioneer "haus-frau." She entered into her hus- 
band's projects and spun and wove, and even colored the thread, 
making suits for her family as well as for her husband and self. It 
is said, that Mr. Paine, might be seen during the winter months 
wearing a buckskin sack coat, the material of which had been tanned 
and made by himself, but beneath its edges was \'isible the vest of 
gaily checked linen, woven and made by his wife. 

R. F. W. Peck, of Chicago, came to the settlement to fonn a part- 
nership in general merchandise, with the Naper brothers. A store of 
logs was erected — the first of its kind in Du Page county. The winter 
of 1831-32 was of undue severity and hardships were patiently endured 
by the Naper community. Spring came with its flood of sunshine 
and genial atmosphere; the ground was broken and fenced. Seedtime 
brought promise. Then from the rich forest growth came whisperings 
of the Black Hawk and his band; of his determination to rid the 
country of the pale face. Mr. Peck became discouraged and his 
partnership with the Napers was dissolved by mutual consent, the 
brothers giving him three lots, 80 x 165 feet on South Water street, 
Chicago, as his interest in the business. The Napers, all unconscious 
of the fact, by this deal, laid the foundation of the princely fortune 
which Mr. Peck afterwards enjoyed. 

The Napers were not easily discouraged. They remained apparently 
indifferent, but watchful. This had its effect not only on the immediate 
community, but on those little colonics which had fearlessly established 
themselves a few miles apart from each other. Then came something 
more than mere rumor; and brave men, while arming for the frav. 
blanched with sickening dread at the thought of exposing wotnen and 
children to the merciless attack. So the latter were put into wagons 
and under escort sent to the jirotection of Fort Dearborn. 



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/"age hundred hventv 



HIGHWAYS AND B V \V A V S — P A S T AND PRESENT 



Twenty men remained to protect ])ropcrty from depredations. 
This company was quartered in the loj^ home of Captain Joseph Naper 
and they kci)t viji:ilant watch durinj^ the nijjht. The followinj^ mom- 
inj^, Bcrnankis Lauj^hlon, from the Dcs Plaincs, \vith three Indians 
and a half-breed, arrived at the Naper settlement to feather news of 
the movements of the Indians. Some ten miles distant a band of 
Pottawattomies was encamped. It was therefore resolved that a 
party accomjiany Laughton and the three Indians to this particular 
rendezvous. An amusinj^ legend is treasured by the descendants of 
the pioneer families of Naperville in connection with this event. 

Two men had been placed that morning as ]3atrol on the bit of 
lirairic intervening between the dense growth of timber then environ- 
ing the settlement and the Big Woods beyond, in which were camped 
the Pottawattomies. The party setting out, by way of a joke, thought 
they would test the courage of the patrol. So they sent the three 
Indians in advance with instructions what to do. As soon as the 
Indians came in sight of the patrol, they uttered a terriffic war-whoop. 
The patrol sprang to horse and fled in the wildest dismay, first north- 
ward where they were intercepted by some members of the company, 
whom they took for savages, and then wheeling in another direction, 
they were again intercepted by the three Indians. Feeling that dis- 
cretion was the better part of \'alor so long as numbers were against 
them, they came to a halt, laid down their arms and sued for mercy. 
Presently they realized they had been the victims of a hoax. There 
are many such amusing anecdotes associated with this period which 
must necessarily remain untold in these pages. One fact should be 
borne in mind, however. This section of the country was not settled 
by an indiflerent class of colonists. They were heroic, thrifty men 
and women. The majority were from Revolutionary stock. That 
which their fathers accomplished was an inheritance adapting them 
for pioneer work. 

The Naper Settlement was platted in 1842, taking unto itself the 
more dignified title of Napen'ille and it was incorporated under this 
same title in 1857, so the name of its pioneer family was perpetuated. 
Its brave sons have gone forth in defense of the "Starry Banner," not 
a few yielding their lives in its defense. Its court-hou.se square has a 
memorial shaft, upon which are recorded the names of those engaged 
in the Black Hawk War, 1832; Mexico, 1846-8; Civil War, 1861-5; 
Spain, 1898. 

The Naperville of today (1912) is elbowing with unmistakeable 
thrusts at the yesterday; the modem squeezes beside or in between 
the antiquated semblances of the frontier period. These old-timers 
peer forlornly enough on finely jjaved streets and other improvements 
that arc quickly forestalling the past. Imposing structures are the 
Nichols Library and the Y. M. C. A. Building, Its college, two grade 
schools, and fine High School long ago gave expression to the educa- 
tional ambitions of its residents. There are also many charming 
homes of modem type on the beautifully undulating portions that 
lift from the wooded banks of the river in a series of picturesque 
undulations. 

The pioneer log house, in which Captain Naper lived, is still a 
memento of the past. It has a clap-board covering, but is, otherwise, 



Page hundred licenly-oiie 



BOOK 



O F 



THE 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 



significant of the little dun-colored structures that dotted the landscape 
in the early days of pioneer settlement. In its vicinity, and on a rising 
slope, where but yesterday, the settlers builded a block-house ("Fort 
Naper"), and in which their families sought shelter after the return 
from Fort Dearborn, today, stands "Heatherton," the beautiful home 
of Mr. John S. Goodwin. Its architectural design imparts a significant 
dignit}' to this commanding and historic site. 

On a finely paved highway which was in the early time a primitive 
trail, is the homestead of George Martin, who came to this neighbor- 
hood in 1833, purchasing from the Government and from the Napers 
a total of one thousand acres. Across the street is seen the charming 
home of Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Mitchell, the latter being a descendant 
of the pioneer Martin, who was a Scotchman by birth, a inan of liberal 
education, fine principles, and of broad views. 

The entrance to this town by its railway is imposing. In fact, it 
would be difficult to find such a succession of fine architectural struc- 
tures as those with which the C., B. & 0. has graced these Western 
Suburbs. 




THE DU PAGE RIVER. .\APERVILLE. ILL. 
\'icinity of LoK House of First Settler 



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THE THREE ELMS. CAMPUS 
Wheaton College. Wheaton. 111. 



WH EATON 



" Be it ours to meditate, 
In these calm shades, Thy milder majesty, 
And to the beautiful order of Thy works 
Learn to conform the order of our lives." 

— Wm. C. Bryant. 



BETWEEN eight and nine miles northeast of Naperville, and in 
the township of Milton, lies Wheaton. The year following the 
Black Hawk war, a small settlement was established in this 
vicinity. Its pioneers, Lyman Butterfaeld and Henry T. Wilson, two 
of the original Naperville colonists, staked claims in what is now 
designated Milton township, and near the present site of Wheaton. 

Erastus Gary, of Puritan stock, came from Pomfret, Ma.ss., to 
St. Joseph, Mich., in 1831. For one winter he taught school, then 
resolved to push still farther westward. With three companions he 
made his way, in a dug-out, to Chicago where he remained one night. 
The following morning he started on foot, westward. Muddy trails, 
swamps and sloughs intercepted the route, and, almost exhausted, 
Mr. Gary reached Laughton's tavern (Riverside) that night. Here 



Page hundred thirty-nine 




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Pa f^e' hundred forty 



HIGHWAYS A N D B Y \V AYS 



PAST AND PRESENT 




I'hoto hv BriTitii 



HOME OF MR. H. A. SCHRYVER 
Wheaton. III. 



he rested until mominj^. At daybreak he resumed his tramping, 
reaching the Naper settlement that c\^ening and on his twenty-seventh 
birthday. Attracted by the beautifully undulating country to the 
north and east, Mr. Gary again took up the trail on the following day 
and arriving at the Wilson and Buttcrfield claims, staked one adjoining 
that of the latter. 

It was customary,-, at this period, to mark off more land than one 
expected to keep, and both ^Ir. Gary and Mr. Butterfield pursued 
this course, bearing in mind those friends and acquaintances in the 
East, who had already declared their intention to come later and join 
forces in settling up the country, then generally designated as the 
" wild and woolly West '." 

Five years later, came Warren L. Wheaton, little dreaming that he 
was to become sponsor for the beautiful college town now bearing his 
name. He was then in his twenty-sixth year, ambitious, strong of 
body and of good mental and moral calibre, but cautious and perhaps 
somewhat skeptical as to the ad\-antages of immediately staking a claim. 
He therefore resolved to travel the prairie country both on foot and 
on horseback before deciding upon location. Making the Gary home 
his headquarters, Mr. Wheaton, in due course, visited St. Louis, 
Quincy, Burlington, Dubuque and Galena. After a year spent in this 
desultory prospecting he footed it over the old Dixon trail to his 
friend's log home. 



Page hundred forty-one 




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Page hundred forty-lwo 



H I G H \V A 'i' S A .\ 1) H N' \V A 'I' S — I' A S T AND P R li S E N T 




THE CHICAGO GOLF CLUB 

Wheaton. lU. 

The Club House shown above was recently destroyed by fire 



In the meantime, a claim jumper had arrived in the immediate 
vicinity and by aid of an ox-team had turned the prairie sod on a por- 
tion of the Butterfield and Gary claim, havinj^ plowed around thirty 
acres before being discovered. The original claimants sought to 
induce him to withdraw by following with their ox-team plow over 
the same furrow. Mr. Wheaton hapjjened there just as the con- 
troversy was warming as to indi\'idual rights over the site in dispute. 
The intruder seems to have been amenable to reason, however, and 
the controversy was settled without further dispute. But this incident 
hastened the decision of Wheaton. Fearing that the nearest available 
site might be taken while he hesitated, he took the Gan,' team to the 
coveted site eastward and turned a furrow around some 640 acres, in 
order to secure it. 

The country was now becoming cognizant of that great onward 
trend westward. That movement in and around which is incor- 
porated the homebuilding instinct of the American people. Other 
nations were reaching toward aggrandizement by way of military 
conquest; America was simply working out her destiny along the 
paths of peace, and the little dun-colored structures dotting the i)rairic 
were but the forerunners of the channing homes and magnificent 
structures that greet one in the thriving and prosperous suburbs of 
today. So, to Chicago by way of the Lakes, and from thence over 
the prairies in hooded wagons drawn by the patient, slow-going ox- 
teams, came colonies of homebuilders. And in 1849, prospectors were 
out for right of wav for the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad! 



Page hundred fnrly-three 




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„ ^ 



c/3 := 

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Page hundred forty-four 



HIGHWAYS AND B V W A V S — F A S T AND 1> R li S E N T 




THE COTTAGES, CHICAGO GOLF CLUB 
Wheaton, III. 



The Wheatons — for the brother Jesse C. had arrived soon after 
Warren had staked his claim — were in sympathy with the railroad 
project, and generously gave right of way for some two miles through 
their property, on condition that no depot or railroad building should 
be erected thereon. Autumn of this same year found the track of 
strap-iron spiked on wooden scantling. Any old rickety, second- 
hand substitute for a locomotive was deemed good enough to ]3roceed 
with due caution over this white man's trail. The most forlorn of 
coaches, judged from the point of view of today, were in the yesterday, 
deemed luxuries! A primitive, shed-like structure served the purpose 
of "dee-po." But with these simple beginnings this western settle- 
ment soon took unto itself the responsibility of village organization to 
be later distinguished by the title "City of Country Homes." 

Store and tavern — the latter suggesting hospitality to the way- 
farer — was soon in evidence. Later, came the full-fledged "country 
store" in which general merchandise found a place. The proprietor 
was H. H. Fuller. He also managed a hotel, served as postmaster 
and gave .some attention to the depot and stage office. There was a 
village smithy, where the blacksmith in the person of Mr. Wonnwith, 
wielded "his heavy sledge with measured beat and slow." 

In June, 1853, a part of the village was platted and laid out by the 
Wheaton brothers. The charter by which it was first incorporated 
was approved in 1859. Ten years later, its territory extended, a 
second charter was drawn up and approved. This was followed by 
a more liberal public policy. Streets were graded and later gravelled. 



Page hundred forty-five 



BOOK 



O F 



THE 



WESTERN 



SUBURBS 




THE OLDEST HOUSE IX WHEATON. ILL. 



there being a plentiful supply of material at hand, and later, the village 
fathers deemed it advisable to purchase a gravel pit. The arboreal 
beauty of Wheaton today is due to the forethought and energy of the 
city fathers of yesterday. 

Wheaton blossomed into a county seat in 1866. Hitherto, Naper- 
ville held this honor with grace and efficiency. vSo strongly were its 
citizens opposed to the change, that legends amusing and otherwise, 
are associated with the descent of the Wheatonites on the courthouse 
at Naperville, and their capture of the public documents by force. 
There exists no abiding grudge between the communities, however. 
Why should there be? Naperville has traditions which any suburb 
might well envy. Its settlement began while the Indian was yet lord 
of the prairie and the grove! Think of the courage and diplomacy it 
required on the part of both men and women to face the conditions 
at that period! 

The propriety of having an educational institution representative 
of its particular denomination located within the State, was seriously 
discussed at the Annual Conference of the Wesleyan Methodists of 
Illinois, in 1848. Wheaton was selected as its site. Tradition records 
that its founders journeyed to this vicinity, ascended the elevated 
plateau, then kneeling on its prairie sod invoked the Divine Blessing 
upon the contemplated project. Standing on the college campus 
today, and recalling the beautiful little legend associated with its 
birth, the whole environment becomes sacred. Each tree, planted 



Page hundred forly-six 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 




NEW STATION AURORA, ELGIN & CHICAGO R. R. 
Wheaton, III. 



there in faith and hope, is a memorial to those who planned better 
than could ever be conceived. In 1854, instruction commenced in a 
single building, designated the "Illinois Institute." Six years later, 
Jonathan Blanchard, who for fourteen years had been at the head 
of Knox College, was called to the presidency of the newer institution. 
The name was changed to Wheaton College. While Dr. Blanchard 
manfully struggled through many vicissitudes in striving to bring the 
institution to that grade of proficiency enjoyed by it today, he never 
seems to have been wholly discouraged. Its first set-back after Dr. 
Blanchard took charge w-as the Civil War. The clarion call to arms 
reached its peaceful precincts. Several of its students, some of whom 
never returned, rallied in defense of their country's honor. In 1882, 
Dr. Blanchard became president emeritus with an annual stipend, 
while his son Charles A. Blanchard, who had been associated with his 
father for ten years, was elected successor. 

Wheaton College maintains high ideals, believing that intellectual 
jjursuits should be combined with all that pertains to a noble and 
useful life. This institution is also free from the bane of secret socie- 
ties. Its students are aiming to be character builders; to take their 
place in the world with an equipment of energy, truth, sincerity and 
honor that must ultimately tell upon the community and upon the 
nation at large. Each one in his or her particiilar sphere doing the duty 
that "lies nearest" and doing all for the betterment of humanity at 
large. Many of its students ha\'e made good records in both com- 
mercial and professional careers, and Wheaton College, apart as it is 



Page hundred forty-seven 



BOOK OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 

by nature's environment, being far removed from distracting influences, 
possesses an atmosphere conducive to study and moral uplift. 

Wheaton is a city of homes, many of which are in fine park-like 
settings. It has twenty-two miles of paved highways above which, in 
loving and exclusive fashion, stretch the amis of its pioneer tree growth. 
There are church homes for eleven religious sects, the Gary Memorial 
M. E. Church, costing one hundred thousand dollars, perpetuating 
the name of its active pioneers. Besides grade schools and High 
School, there are two parochial schools — Catholic and German 
Lutheran, respectively — and a Farm Vacation School for boys. The 
Adams Memorial Library building is of magnificent proportions, more 
pretentious than anything of its kind in towns of similar size. It 
offers a free circulation of books, free reading rooms, a large lecture room 
as well as three rooms for the use of clubs. 

The Aurora, Elgin and Chicago R. R. Co. has just completed a very 
fine architectural structure for depot purposes. This electric railroad, 
well equipped in every sense, has been a vital element in later years 
toward the building up of towns and villages along its right of way. 
Regular and quick ser\-ice and politeness on the part of its employees 
are characteristics materially effective in the rapidly disappearing 
prairie. 

About a mile southwest of Wheaton is the fine course of the 
Chicago Golf Club, said to be the first of its kind organized in this 
part of the country. It is reached by the Chicago and Aurora 
electric, and adjoining the latter, is "Green Gables," the country 
seat of Mr. George Plamondon. This lovely home is on an elevation 
overlooking a wide range of country, and its site has everything in it 
to suggest its former occupancy by the Indian as a place where the 
tribes gathered for council. 

The Wheatonites have an excellent golf course and club house just 
east of the Chicago Golf grounds. 



Page hundred forty-eight 




VALV'ISTA 
Home of Mr. Frank D. Abbott. St. Charles Road. Glen Ellyn. 111. 



GLEN ELLYN 

GROVES, hillocks, vales, and a lovely lake snuggled in between! 
And viewing this same site today, one really wonders why the 
settlers of seventy-five years ago did not rush to this attractive 
spot instead of plodding still farther westward. But the western 
horizon, with its glory of light and color, with its ever beckoning dis- 
tances, seemed to promise ever^-thing desirable to the one who ven- 
tured. So the beautiful lake shimmered in its gem-like setting of grace- 
ful undulations crowned with superb tree growth, while westward and 
southward colonies were already established. 

It was a paradise to the gentle deer; a skulking place for the wolf, 
a haven for the prairie chicken; while the feathered songsters made it 
a palace of delight. How the Indian must have loved this particular 
site! Between the vistas of maple, elm and walnut he commanded 
a view of the surrounding country ; the same stalwart growth afforded 
him protection from ad\-erse winds ; while the springs which here abound 
were sacred to his Manitou, for he believed in their healing properties. 
"Great Medicine!" he pronounced them. But the poor Indian was 
driven with his face toward the setting sun, while hillock, vale, lake, 
and forest awaited their destiny. 

Then one day, there was borne in on the solitude, a strange, ringing 
sound. The deer fled to the more shadowy recesses bounding the 



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HIGHWAYS AND 1) V W A V S — F A S T AND PRESENT 




THE ROAD BY THE LAKE 
Glen Ellyn, 111. 



lake ; the wolf slunk to his lair ; the prairie chicken rushed to cover, and 
the feathered songsters took to the topmost branches to watch. Yes; 
there could be no mistake. There were the bipeds, with arms instead 
of wings, with clumsy body covering in lieu of feathers, blazing the 
trees, slashing off big, bonnie boughs and cutting and whittling them 
into stakes they forced into the soil! 

The brothers, Winslow and Seth Churchill together with John 
D. Ackerman, made their claims in 1834. Winslow (also given as Wil- 
liam) Churchill in 1837 built a home here. Then he sold part of his 
land to Dr. L. V. or L. Q. Newton, who built the first frame house in 
this section. Dr. Newton, after the coming of the railroad in 1849, 
and in order to coax the company to a courteous consideration toward 
the small settlement, put up a station. He installed David Kelly as 
major domo. Kelly, who had fomierly kept a post office at his farm, 
some three miles north, now instituted a hostelry and post office 
combined in the depot building. 

A post office must not be nameless, and in casting around for a 
title, Kelly could think of none better than that of Danby, a town in 
Vermont from whence he originated. May, 1854, Newton platted the 
village under this title, but in 1876, it adopted the more sanguine cog- 
nomen of "Prospect Park." There was nothing of poetry in either 
title, but its day of redemption had not arrived. 

The date when this beautifully located and charming village received 
its present designation "Glen Ellyn," the writer is not prepared to 
state, but there is an association reaching back some twenty-five years 
or more when an excursion to Glen Ellyn formed a red-letter day in 
the historv of herself and her husband. It was then very beautiful; 



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WESTERN 



U B U R B S 



all that Nature could do to enhance its loveliness was much in evidence. 
Its main highway still gave evidence of the frontier period. It was 
quaint and traditional of aspect. But it bore the attractive title of 
"Glen Ellyn." The lake is known as "Ellyn," the village as Glen 
Ellyn, this combination being both euphonious and appropriate to the 
old Celtic designation for glen or vale or a depression between hills. 
Some one with poetic sentiment must have originated this pretty 
title. 

The site of Glen Ellyn is 150 feet above Lake Michigan and is 
twenty-two miles west of Chicago, both steam and electricity furnishing 
excellent transportation in from 38 to 55 minutes. There are two good 
schools built of brick, four churches, and over two thousand of a popu- 
lation. Its social advantages includes golfing, boating and other 
aquatic sports, while winter brings its round of skating, tobogganing, 
and sleigh-rides. There is also a delightful philanthropic work carried 
on here — in the form of a boy's outing club, of which Mrs. Rose 
Fisher Kennedy is the moving spirit. 




OLD DUTCH WINDMILL 
York Center, 111. 



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HOME OF MR. A. H. ANDREWS 
Lombarrl. 111. 



LOMBARD 

EAST of Glen Ellyn and mid\va\- between the latter place and 
Elmhurst, is Lombard, in the township of York. This town- 
ship was settled mainly by families from New York State, 
hence its name. Lombard was originally known as Babcock's Grove 
— that is its post office and railway depot were known by this title. 
In 1834, Luther Morton and W. Churchill. Jr., staked claims and built 
a log cabin near the present site of the Chicago and North-Westem 
depot. Ultimately, in 1867, a goodly portion of the land passed into 
the possession of Josiah Lombard, who jjlatted the site a year later 
and became sponsor for its present name. In 1869, it was incorporated 
as the ^•illage of Lombard, and station and post office assumed this 
title. 

The projectors of this site had always been most sanguine as to its 
future, believing that as the country settled and the railroad had 
arrived, its site would develop into one characterized by a thrifty 
commercialism. But it has largely remained a village of homes. In 
1851 it had five frame dwellings and one store as well as a building owned 
by the railroad company, which was utilized for depot purposes as 
well as for a hotel. Its first church was here at this period. 



Page hundred fifly-eight 



H I G H W A \' S A N IJ H \' W A V S — P A S T AND I' R 1-; S K N T 




AkiJEN AND LAWN. HOME OF MR. A. H. ANDREWS 
Lombard, III. 



The Lombard of today jDrcsciils many possibilities. It is a delight- 
ful village around which radiates an atmosphere of restfulness. It 
has schools and churches, water and a good sewage s},'stem; a sane 
social life and a golf club. But the magician, in the form of a clever 
sub-divider has not yet touched it with his wand. When he arrives, 
Lombard, with its undulating surface, its lovely tree growth and its 
excellent transportation scr\'ice, will respond with a vim that will 
surj^risc the communities that ha\-o grown up on its eastern and western 
borders. 

In the township of York, there was in the days of earliest settlement, 
one of the busiest of grist mills. Its great arms flapped to the prairie 
winds, for it was a real Dutch windmill, with its round tower-like 
formation. But it was a boon to the settlers. We are now in an 
age of steam and electricity and of rapid transportation, and cannot 
conceive of all the ]3ionecrs endured in the days when conditions were 
otherwise. Then honor to their memory: the fathers who tilled the 
soil; the mothers, who — well their task ne\-er ended until they folded 
their hands in the last long slec]!. 



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BYRD'S NEST CHAPEL 



ELMHURST 

"No palm branch waved at temple or at triumph, is fair as an elm branch." 

— Qusyle. 

A SMALL settlement of thrifty Germans was found on this site in 
1837. But J. L. Hovey, who came from Ohio, is considered its 
real pioneer. In 1843, on a bit of an elevation commanding a 
sweeping view of the prairie, Mr. Hovey built a cottage. As was 
customary when an abode became known as a public hostelry in early 
days, it was designated a "tavern," and as we have learned by pre- 
vious chapters, these taverns dotted the landscape at distances well 
calculated between Chicago and the frontier settlements. Later, Mr. 
Hovey desired to install a post office. The latter having to be desig- 
nated by name, the rising ground, together with the simple architecture, 
suggested "Hill Cottage." 



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WESTERN 



SUBURBS 




Photo by Bern 



HOME OF MR. C. J. ALBERT 
Elmhurst, III. 



John Wentworth (familiarly called Long John on account of his 
tallness) was the Congressional representative of this district, and he 
presented the petition for "Hill Cottage" post office. The post- 
master general objected to the name for the reason that "so many 
post offices" already bore the prefix of "hUl." He therefore granted 
the petition on condition that the title be "Cottage Hill." 

This site presented many attractions. It was within fair distance 
of the growing city by the lake, and moneyed men doing business in 
Chicago were seeking productive sites for country homes. One of the 
first to venture on such a quest, was the late Thomas B. Brs'an, who 
made a purchase of several hundred acres. Plenty of good land for 
farming and stock raising, with springs of clear water in the vicinity, 
or a plentiful supply to be had by boring — but no trees ! 

Yonder, with a mile or more of prairie intervening, were trees, one 
particular grove traditionally designated the "Sleeping Giant" from 
its suggestion of form. Mr. Bryan resolved to attack the "giant" 
and force him to yield the richest and best of his domain — trees 
that could be transported and transplanted with success. And he 
did; with the result that avenue after avenue of trees of noble girth 
and majestic sweep are the distinguishing feature of Elmhurst toda}'. 
In fact, around the trees of Elmhurst are embodied some of its loftiest 
traditions, for others followed in the pioneer tree planting suggested 
by Mr. Bryan. It was a work done for posterity; a task by which man's 



Page ktmdred sixty-four 



H I C. 11 W A \- S AND 1) V W A Y S — P A S T AND PRESENT 




HOME OF DR. HENRY FREDERICK LANGHORST 
Elmhurst, 111. 



consideration for his kind evolved itself into that noblest of attri- 
butes — unselfishness. 

One can readily understand how the designation "Cottage Hill" 
became a misfit in this scheme of arboreal grandeur. As the elms 
with their stately pillars lifted heavenward, or stretched their limbs 
in an abandon of grace, above the highways and bj^vays, creating 
woodlands and groves of exceptional charm, the poetic temperament 
of the originator of this fairy transformation, was moved to suggest 
a title more in keeping with its appearance. So, in 1870, Mr. Bryan 
suggested the beautiful name "Elmhurst." "Elm" from its pre- 
dominating tree growth, and "hurst" from the old English "hyrst" 
which has its equivalent in the German "horst" meaning thicket, or 
wood, or grove. 

Mr. Bryan built a pretentious country home in the midst of a 
landscape artistically devised by the planting of trees and shrubs, and 
by shadowy nooks, reached by curving b\^vays, that has become more 
beautiful and imposing as the years have passed. This home is still 
occupied by his daughter. Miss Jennie Byrd Bryan when not visiting 
her brother. Colonel Charles Page Bryan, who has been in the United 
States diplomatic servnce for some years, and is at present (September, 
1912) Ambassador to Japan. At one comer of the estate, but in close 
proximity to the public highway, Mr. Brv'an built a cosey edifice for 
religious services — Episcopal denomination. It is known as Byrd's 



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BOOK OF THE WESTERN 



U B U R B S 




Photo by Bemm 



KENILWORTH 
Home of Mr. Geo. R. Chapman, Elmhurst, III. 



Nest Chapel — Byrd being a distinguished family name. The Rev. 
Chas. Palmerston Anderson, now Bishop of the diocese of Chicago, 
served as rector of this parish for eight years (1892-1900). 

"Lancaster Lodge," the home of the Hon. T. E. Wilder, was built 
by Henry W. King, another of the notables that lived in the old Bing- 
ham tavern after it was rejuvenated, and while he was awaiting 
occupancy of the projected home. "Lancaster Lodge" is today, a 
marvel of scenic beauty. Its formal garden (see cover page) enclosed 
by the most symmetrical of hedges, preserves a well-balanced harmony 
of form and color. Adjoining, is an old fashioned or "grandmother's" 
garden, in which flourish the herbs and blossoms associated with 
bygone years antedating the period of gigantic blooms grown for 
exhibition purposes and to catch a prize. Oh, how fragrant are its 
byways! Reminding one of an old cedar chest, with its lid just lifted 
emitting not only its own aroma, but that of lavender and other sweet 
scents that had been folded in between the quaintly fashioned ward- 
robe of "my lady" of long, long ago. A park-like vista of lawn, shrub 
and trees, greet the eye from the roomy screened porches which extend 
around three sides of this charming home — one side being embowered 
by a grand maple-growi,h. 

The old Indian trail from Chicago to St. Charles, being transformed 
into a highway over which the stages ran with some degree of regularity 
before the railway came into being, takes its picturesque way through 



Pa^e hundred sixty-six 



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HOME OF MR. GUSTAV SWEXSON 
Elmhurst. III. 




Photo by Benini 



GARDEN AND GREENHOUSES 
Home of Mr. Gustav Swenson. Elmhurst, 111. 



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COTTAGE HILL AVE.. ELMHURST. ILL. 



Elmhurst. Adjacent to this highway was Bingham's tavern which 
performed good ser\'ice as an hostelry for many years. Then it was 
purchased and moved to a more favorable site for a home, its original 
architecture changed to suit its immediate needs. Mr. Bryan, while 
homebuilding, domiciled his family here. Later, it became the country 
home of the distinguished portrait painter, George P. A. Healy, who 
moved here with his family in 1857. 

"Wc were still settled at Cottage Hill, now Elmhurst," writes Mr. 
Healy in his interesting 'Reminiscences of a Portrait Painter,' "the 
elder children at school, the younger ones running wild like young colts 
— when the war broke out." And again, "Among the most successful 
portraits I painted at this time I can mention that of Mrs. Thomas 
B. Bryan, whose hospitable home was alwaj's open to me and mine. 
Mr. Bryan and I agreed on many points, but the greatest bond of sym- 
pathy perhaps was our admiration for our respective wives — for each 
other's wives, too." Hanging in the Bryan home is this charming 
portrait of a beautiful and refined woman, and here, even in the early 
days of settlement, were found art treasures from many lands. 

Entering Elmhurst by way of the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago 
electric railroad, and walking northward but a few steps, one finds 
themselves in a veritable land of enchantment with color and fragrance. 
Here are the extensive nurseries of Gustav Swenson. Mr. Swenson 
has installed an overhead system of irrigation, by which the plants 
enjoy a summer shower at the will of the owner. If old Aptakisic or 
Waubunsie could only ap]Dear ! It would be defined in Indian language 
as "Great Medicine!" The asters revel in this locality, shading from 
white to grey and then taking on the hue of lavender until they become 
truly royal of aspect in richest purple. In one particular highway is 



Pa^c hundred sixty-eight 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 

preserved the fonner name of Elmhurst. This is as it should be. 
Traditions should be preserved, but we arc too apt to destroy and 
ignore. 

Elmhurst early enjoyed edueational ]3rivileges, the college being 
established in 1869. There arc good public schools; a grammar and 
high school, churches, and social organizations, including a golf club. 

The suggestion for munici]5al water supply came in a most remark- 
able and unexpected manner to Elmhurst. It was in the Spring of 
1861, when for many miles, the residents were startled by a loud 
exjjlosion. It was discovered in one particular place — in the immed- 
iate vicinity of the ground now occupied by the waterworks, that a won- 
derful stream of water had burst from the earth. It was clear, sparkling, 
cool and after scientific examination, pronounced absolutely pure. 
After being assured that it had projected itself in their midst with 
a finn resolve to remain, it was harnessed for the promulgation of the 
health and sanitary betterment of the village. Today, Elmhurst has 
more good water at her command than she can adequately use. 




A LOMBARD PIONEER IX HIS CORN PATCH 



Pa fie hundred sixty- tiiite 




RIVER FOREST AND MAYWOOD 
New Bridge across the Desplaines on Lake St. 



MAYWOOD 



' Or sheltered lawn, where, 'mid encircling trees, 
May's warmest sunshine lies." 



MORE and more level becomes the country traveling eastward 
from Elmhurst. Entering the township of Proviso, the Des 
Plaines flowing southward and Salt Creek, northeast and then 
southeast, with their beautifully wooded banks, were the attractions 
to this part of the prairie in the early days of settlement. Tradition 
tells of the fine elms, with a girth of five feet or more and of the stone 
waiting to be quarried. Then appeared a log cabin among the trees, 
and he who put it there designated his place as "Bennitt's Grove;" 
another log cabin and a wild cat haunting the timber, led to a claim 
being designated "Cat Grove." Bennitt's claim seems to have been 
lost in the shuffle, but the owner of "Cat Grove" Thomas R. ColviUe 
was a real pioneer of this township. Mr. Colville had been in the 
State of Illinois since 1819 and had settled at Plainfield about 1830. 
He is found as Captain of Volunteers at Fort Dearborn in 1832, and in 
1834 had established himself, near to what is now a part of Maywood. 
This township was organized under the name of "Taylor," but very 
soon afterward it was re-christened "Proviso." This latter name 



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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS — PAST AND PRESENT 

involves in its title, memories of one of the critical periods in American 
history — the eariy days of anti-slavery ap^itation. Congressman 
Wilmot of Pennsylvania insistently maintained that if land were 
to be acquired in the new western territory, that a "proviso" whereby 
slavery might never be pennitted in the territory should be enforced. 
The "proviso" failed to carry, but the settlers in this small section of 
the Illinois country, perpetuated the memory of its principles, when, 
acting upon the suggestion of "Long" John Wentworth, they adopted 
the name of "Proviso" as title for their township. 

The township commissioners devised public highways and in the 
Spring of 1851, a resolution was passed that five mills in the dollar 
be raised for the purpose of building a bridge across the Des Plaines, 
"where the Chicago and Grand De Tour State Road crosses said 
river." It was carried by a majority vote of five, there being a total 
of twenty-four votes polled. Then the commissioners were authorized 
to negotiate a loan of not over six hundred dollars and at any interest 
not to exceed twelve and a half per cent for the purpose of building 
this bridge and that the debt so incurred should be liquidated by the 
payment of five mills on each dollar of taxation. 

In the early summer of 1868, the real history of Majn^'ood had its 
inception. Colonel W. T. Nichols of Rutland, Vt., contracted for 
the purchase of one and three quarter miles of land from north to south 
and one mile from east to west. 

He organized a stock company with a capital of $75,000, and in 
April, 1869 obtained a special charter from the Illinois legislature. 
Streets were laid out, trees planted and a tract of about two blocks in 
width reserved for park purposes. A two story brick structure, in 
Gothic style of architecture, the first floor designed for school pur- 
poses and the upper story finished for religious services, was erected 
at a cost of five thousand dollars. In January, 1871, the upper part 
was dedicated as a union church, open to all denominations. In the 
Spring of the same year, the school was opened and sustained by 
private subscription, Miss Ida Barnes being its first teacher. 

A imique feature of this pioneer land company was to set aside 
four blocks of land, one of each was to be donated to any religious 
denomination that would erect a church. The Congregationalists and 
Methodists were the first to avail themselves of the opportunity. 
The Chicago & Northwestern company had built its depot in 1870. 

The village was incorporated as Maywood, Oct. 22, 1811, the name 
being derived from the fact that its chief promoter had a loved daugh- 
ter named "May," and "wood" being added to emphasize the fact 
that this section had an original growth of timber. The Proviso Land 
Company was one of a very few corporations chartered by the State 
to deal in lands and the company is still in existence. 

Maywood of today has miles of finely paved streets with a tree 
growth that is the outcome of the work performed by the pioneer 
homebuilders. 

The village is easily and quickly reached via the Aurora, Elgin 
& Chicago R. R. from its Fifth Avenue Terminal, Chicago. 



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jiuiiiond. Archt. 



HOME OF MR. WILLIAM DRUMMOND 
288 Oak Avenue, River Forest, lU. 



RIVER FOREST AND OAK PARK 

DAVID C. THATCHER who had been engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in Chicago, since 1838, retired to what had been known 
as "Des Plaines River" station, in 1858. Mr. Thatcher had 
previously purchased land in 1856, building quite a pretentious home 
thereon, and in 1863, the depot name was changed to Thatcher in 
honor of this pioneer homebuilder. 

The name River Forest seems to have been suggested in 1872, 
by the forest-like appearance of the land bordering the river, but the 
sponsor for this peculiarly attractive title has not been recorded. 
During the summer of 1860, a Sunday school was organized. Miss 
Francis E. Willard and Miss Clara E. Thatcher being its first teachers 
in the "little red schoolhouse" which also served as public school. 

For some time, Miss Thatcher continued in this mission work 
alone, and then O. A. Willard, a young Biblical student was engaged 
to teach public school during the winter months, and he interested 
other students in carrying on the mission work. In the meantime 
a new brick school house was built and the mission secured the use of 
its lecture room. But the cause declined, and the Episcopal denomi- 



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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS— PAST AND PRESENT 




LIVING ROOM 
Home of Mr. William Drummond. River Forest, 111. 



nation occupied the building. Then the Methodists united with the 
Episcopahans in putting up a church edifice. In 1873, the Thatcher 
family built a Methodist church at a cost of $10,000. 

River Forest has ever presented the aspect of a purely residence 
village. Today there are some delightfiilly modem homes, very 
artistic of design, and showing the modern trend toward simplicity 
in architectural structure, the grand old trees adding picturesque 
effects that are truly beautiful. 

The new bridge across the Des Plaines is of historic interest, since 
it spans the river, where in the early thirties, the settlers of Milton 
and York townships, urged the building of a bridge in order that the 
farmers might carry their products to Chicago. Tradition says that 
this first bridge, which was superseded by one of later date, was built 
by the combined efforts of the settlers in the townships named. The 
fine structure now spanning the stream is of quite recent date. When 
one considers that this bridge forms a continuance of Lake Street 
to and from Chicago, it is very readily understood that this was a 
highway of importance. The electric cars now have right of way 
over this old wagon road of the past. 

Oak Park is in the tow^nship of Cicero. Here in 1833, came Joseph 
Kettlestrings with his wife and family. He was an Englishman to 
whom the West presented attractions drawing him from comfort to 
hardship. Mr. Kettlestrings has left on record the fact that the site 
upon which Oak Park now stands, was the onh- piece of dry land he 



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HIGHWAYS AND B Y VV A Y S — P A S T AND PRESENT 

found after leaving Chicago. Sanguine as to its possibilities, he stopped 
long enough to stake his claim and then journeyed about one mile 
westward, in quest of another Englishman who had staked his claim 
on the Des Plaines, in 1831. 

He found his friend George Bickerdikc in partnership with Mark 
Noble (senior) running a saw mill. Mr. Kettlcstrings lived in a log 
cabin, near the mill, tmtil 1835, when he erected a fann house on his 
claim — the first house in Oak Park. As in beginnings of like kind, 
he kept a ta\Tm or inn, and many a weary-worn traveler on his way 
westward, was glad to rest there a night. This house was built in the 
midst of a fine oak growth, and, it became known as "Kettlcstrings' 
Grove" although he himself had named it in English fashion "Oak 
Ridge." And in 1859, the village itself — for many .settlers had been 
drawn to this spot — was known as "Oak Ridge." This same year, 
however, its railroad station was known as "Harlem" and its post 
office as "Noyesvillel" This mi.\-up of names soon caused no end of 
inconvenience, as there was another "Oak Ridge" in Illinois, as well 
as a post office designated "Harlem!" The villagers, upon hearing 
there was a movement on foot, to change the name to "East Harlem," 
were up in arms, and in less than a month, Congressman Chas. B. 
Farwell had succeeded to their satisfaction in having the name changed 
to Oak Park. 

Oak Park of today, with a population of 25,000, retains its village 
organization. Its municipal building, its schools, library and churches 
are imposing structures. It is essentially a community of homes, 
many of them abo\'e the average from an architectural viewpoint. 
A. M. Cummings, who, as a subdividcr has done much tow-ard the 
growth of many of the Western Suburbs, has his home in this village. 

Both River Forest and Oak Park have excellent transportation 
facilities. 




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Photo by Bemiii 



NORWOOD 

Home of Mr. Geo. H. Norton, 7030 Berkley Ave., Berwyn, 111. 



AUSTIN AND BERWYN 



AUSTIN was founded by Henry W. Austin in 1866. Mr. Austin 
/"A was also one of the early settlers of Oak Park. He belonged 
to good old pioneer stock, his grandfather having settled in the 
county of Onondaga, N. Y. in 1792, facing the wilderness and resolv- 
ing to conquer. It was Mr. Austin that, quietly but effectively cleaned 
out the saloon element in Oak Park. He bought the property upon 
which the saloons existed, and then induced the township to main- 
tain a prohibition district. 

Five acres of land were donated by this most generous pioneer of 
town sites, for establishing a park-like environment to the Cicero 
Town Hall and he improved this land until it became a beauty spot 
in the village. The land upon which Austin grew had been originally 
owned by Henry L. De Koven, who bought it from the government 
in 1835 — some 280 acres in all. 

Austin is now a part of the city of Chicago, but its citizens never 
lose sight of the fact, that as a home town it must still thrive and 
grow, and they take pride in its development, with the result, that 
fine business houses arc maintained here. Beautiful shops are 



Page hundred eighty 



H 1 i; II \V A V S A X D 1) V \V A Y S — I' A S T A N U PRESENT 




NORWOOD 
Home of Mr. Geo. H, Norton, To.io Berkley Ave.. Berwyn. 111. 



grouped near the parkway and 
favor the home stores. 



large percentage of the population 



The Austin State Bank was organized in 1891. In 1895 it moved 
into more commodious quarters. It still grew and today, a new struc- 
ture with a frontage on South Boulevard of fifty-five feet, and with 
a depth on Park Avenue of one hundred and ten feet has been erected. 
It is of granite and Bedford stone and its architectural effect is won- 
derfully imposing, its facade being distinguished by four supporting 
Ionic coltmins. The interior is of marble with fixtures of bronze and 
with every up-to-date convenience for patrons, including a room for 
ladies and a safety deposit department. The directors are: Percy 
V. Castle, Tavlor A. Snow, Axel A. Strom, Perley D. Castle, Frederick 
R. Schock, Joseph J. Walsh, Jr., Michael L. Collins, Geo. F. Hulse- 
berg, Carl Bloomberg, with Charles S. Castle as president. 

The author of this work also delights in the fact that Austin has 
produced one of America's best marine painters. Charles Edward 
Hallberg has li\-cd here for many years and worked out his own salva- 
tion under difficulties. Some years ago, it was the writer's privilege 
to visit Mr. Hallberg in his own little home, in which his studio is 
located. Feeling there was a future before him she did her best to 
encourage him, and was gratified to learn that Austin was not alto- 
gether unaijpreciative of the genius that was struggling for expression 



Page hundred etghty-ouc 



BOOK OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 

in its midst. Today, Austinites must be proud of the fact that Mr. Hall- 
berg, who has now attained international fame in his particular delinea- 
tions of Lake Michigan, whether in calm or in storm, or in more 
coquettish mood by moonlight, still prefers to be known as a home- 
maker in Austin. 

On the way to Riverside, the pretty suburb of Berwyn is reached. 
It is of very modem aspect, being incorporated as a village in 1890. 
Its site is of more or less historic import as it will ever be associated 
with days when the Portage route was the only available highway to 
the Des Plaines. In this vicinity was the famous Mud Lake, which 
has been absorbed, practically, by the Drainage Canal. Its remain- 
ing marsh, however, still affords attraction for the hunter of wild 
ducks. The pretty title of Berwyn was bestowed by Mr. P. S. Eustis, 
passenger traffic manager of the C. B. & Q. R. R., who named it in 
memory of a suburb of Philadelphia, in w'hich city Mr. Eustis "grew 
up." He always thought the Pennsylvania Railroad station names 
were good and he made this happy selection, which is euphonious and 
inviting. The Berwyn Club, the centre of the social life of the village, 
has recently opened its handsome new club house, which cost about 
$30,000. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Jesuit Relations, Thwaites 

Discovery and Exploration Mississippi, Shea 

Early Voyages, Shea 

Chapters from Illinois History, Mason 

History Mississippi Valley. Monette 

Travels Mississippi Valley, Schoolcraft 

History Du Page County. Richmond 

History Du Page County, Blanchard 

History Cook County. Andreas 

Autobiography. Blodgett 

Autobiography, Hubbard 

Waubun. Kinzie 

Magazines and Newspaper Files, Old Maps. Charts, etc. 

The Author desires to express appreciation of the helpful courtesy shown by the Historical 
Department of the Newberry Library, Chicago; also for the kindly and hospitable spirit evinced by 
the descendants of the families of the early settlers. Special thanks are also due to Miss Marjorie 
McCurdy, Hinsdale, to Miss Olive Leitch of La Grange, as well as to Mrs. C. A. Wesencraft of River- 
side for aid in covering distances. 



Page hundred eighty-two 



CONTENTS 



HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS— PAST AND PRESENT 

PAOE 

The Historic Highway — *'Rivi^re du Portage 7 

The Desplaines — "Riviere Divinel" 21 

Yesterday and To-day 25 

The Grand Prairie — Its Yesterday and To-day 31 

INDEX-HOMES AND GARDENS, IM 

TRADITIONS OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS 

Austin and Berwyn, 180; Brookfield, Congress Park. Hollywood, 89; Downers Grove, 101; 
Elmhurst, 161; Glen Ellyn, 149; Hinsdale, 97; La Grange, 92; Lombard, 158; Maywood, 170; 
Naperville, 109; Riverside, 8.3; River Forest and Oak Park, 174; Wheaton, 1.39; Western 
Springs. 96. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Austin State Bank 178 

Aurora & Elgin Station, Wheaton 147 

Brookfield— Boys Paradise 7*33 

" Kindergarten 32 

" Outdoor Class 88 

Ricker's Addition 40 

Salt Creek 87,89,90 

" State Bank 34 

Downers Grove Station 101 

" " View from Belmont 107 

Elmhurst— Byrd's Xest Chapel 161 

Cottage Hill Ave 168 

Glen Ellyn— Lake Ellyn 150 

" Road by Lake 155 

Hinsdale — Club House 97 

" Garage 82 

Lilly Pool 99 

Old Mill, FuUersburg 98 

Homes and Gardens 184 



PAC.B 

La Grange — Country Club 91 

" State Bank 41 

Thornton Villa 61 

Lombard Pioneer in Corn Patch 169 

Naperville — Du Page River 122 

Stone Bridge 108 

Riverside — Des Plaines River 2, 14,21 

Park 15 

Waterworks 7 

River Forest— Lake St. Bridge 170 

Western Springs Club 67 

' " Salt Creek 100 

" " Water Tower 98 

Wheaton College 138. 140. 142, 144 

Chicago Golf Club 143, 145 

" Oldest House 146 

Three Elms 139 

York Center— Old Dutch Mill 156 



Page hundred eighty-three 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



HOMES AND GARDENS 



Abbott, Frank D. . 
Abram, Danford J. . 

Albert, C. J 

Ames, Knowlton L . 
Andrews, A, H 



PAGE 

149 

. , 1.57 

.lli4 

130, i:i7 

los, isy 

Bassford, L. C 44 

Bauer. John C 116. 117 

Beach, Chandler B 2(1 

Beeson, F. C 179 

Bell, James W 38 

Bennett, I, A 54 

Bennett, Wm. Arthur 24 

Bentley. C. S 4S 

Berryman, John B 104 

Blanchard, Chas. A., D.D 132 

Braffette, C. F 60 

Breckinridge, Richard 10 

Brinton, C. H 36 

Buckley, Homer J (12 

Bushnell, Oliver J (19 

Cameron, John M 13 

Campbell, R. W 13.5 

Chapman, Geo. R 166 

Cumming. J. H 49 

De Marras. Chalderec L 93 

Drummond. William 174, 17.5 

Dugan. A. G 74 

Elliott, L. G 42 

Evans, Peter L .50 

Ewell, Fred Dana 133 

Faher, Edwin C 123 

Fetzer, Wade .7.S 

Fisher, George M .SO 

Fletcher. Robert C 62 

Floyd, E. D 92 

Freeman, Jay C 173 

Fulkerson, Monroe 94 

Gardner, Fred .59 

Gillespie, J. D . .10.5 

Goodwin. John S 110,111 

Gorham, Sidney S (13 

Graham. E. B 37 

Griesbach, Mrs. Louise 55-.57 

Hellyer. Walter 12 

Hench. Dr. John B 79 

Henneberry, Wm. P 127 

Henry, Albert A .64 

Herr, E. G SI 

Herring, W. J 102 

Holloway, C. W .134 

Iverson. Chester L . . .6, 46 

Jordan, Robert Leicester .22 

Keith, A. E 73 



PAGE 

Kendall, Prof. F. A 118 

Kennedy, Mrs. Rose Fisher 151-153 

Knight. W. H 80 

Knisely, Harry C 75 

Kroehler, Mrs. Josephine 114 

Langhorst, Henry F., M.D 165 

Leitch, Miss Rebecca 95 

Lendrum . George A 39 

Marthens, Chester N 43 

McCurdy, Geo. L 76, 77 

McGregor. P. D 47 

Miller, Ezra E 109 

Mitchell, Abraham 8 

Mitchell, Edward G 120 

Morgan, Geo. W 68 

■Moulton, C. Lewis 1.54 

Nelson, Nicholas J 128, 129 

Norton, Geo. H 180, 181 

O'Brien, Harry J 52 

Peters. Alfred E 65 

Pick, Emil E 37 

Plamondon. George 124-126 

Pope. William A 176 

Randall, Mrs. Charles E 130 

Raschkc, E. H., M.D 53 

Richardson, Mrs. Julia M 16-19 

Rogerson, E. J 63 

Root. Charles G 70-72 

Sands, Henry 45 

Schmidt, R. O 69 

Schneider, Conrad 36 

Schryver, H. A 141 

Schultz, F. C 35 

Sebree, J. K 106 

Secor, Edward T., M.D 61 

Sherman, Mason H 64 

Sigmund, John 112 

Smith, John C, Jr 26 

Stevens, Charles G 31 

Stocker, Horace A 66 

Swenson, Gustav 167 

Tomlinson, Herbert O 131 

Vaughan, Leonard H 65 

Wagenknight. A. R 58 

Webb, Lew H 160 

Wesencraft. Jane Churchill 85 

Whitman, Wm. F 27-30 

Wilder, T. E 162, 163 

And Front Cover 

Windsor, John E 51 

Winslow, W. H 172 

Woodcock, Robert L 68 



Page hiindred eighty-fnur 



DEC 6 1912 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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014 495 798 2 • 




